The Reunion
by KricketWilliams
Summary: Penelope needs a date for her family reunion and orignally goes through an unconventional method to get one before her best friend helps out. Pretty fluffy. I don't own a thing.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_AN: Hello, everyone. This thing came fast like lightening! Pure fluff, then my sequel… just because…._

Penelope looked down at the invitation and groaned. She was close to banging her head against the desk. It was to her family reunion. It happened once every ten years. She never looked forward to going, but really didn't want to go this year. Probably because of her rotten cousin Bridget.

Bridget was a snooty, spoiled, rotten socialite that lived in LA. She treated Penelope like crap growing up. She would try to avoid Bridget; she would've told Bridget to go to hell in a hand basket years ago, if she wasn't the daughter of her favorite aunt.

Truth be told, she never saw her mother's side of the family. She really missed the majority of them. They reminded her a lot of her mother. Most of them were wonderful, it was only Bridget that was a hag.

Bridget was a thorn in Penelope's side ever since they were kids. She was five years older, but for some reason, Bridget considered her a chief rival. Pen didn't, but Bridget did. She would say a lot of rude comments, but never in front of their families.

She was the anti-Penelope growing up. Bridget was the cheerleader type with a thousand boyfriends, P preferred hacking the computer. Bridget wore designer duds, P was rather gothic back in the day.

Aunt Mary said they were reserving a resort in Napa Valley for the week of the reunion. Mary's second husband, Uncle Irwin, was a real-estate tycoon who was able to set them up in fantastic locales. Wine country with fantastic weather sounded terrific. The only bad thing was Bridget.

"The place is terrific, and so romantic!" Aunt Mary gushed over video conference with her. "Bring your boyfriend, or is it a fiancé now?"

Penelope inwardly cringed. She broke up with Kevin two weeks ago; she didn't have a date, much less a fiancé.

"I'm sure its just a boyfriend," Bridget said, smirking into the camera. "You know Penelope; always holding out for that perfect guy."

Penelope wanted to give Bridget the finger. That was a running gag for her; Penelope's lack of boyfriends were because she was waiting for _Mr. Right_. It was a slam, a direct hit. And it caused Penelope to say something stupid in defense.

"Actually. I do have a fiancé. We'll be there," she said, before her brain could effectively stop her mouth.

"Oh," Bridget said, thoroughly surprised, as Aunt Mary squealed in excitement.

_Crap! _Penelope thought. _What have I done?_  
_  
_"Duty calls. I must go. Slave to the man, you know," she said, quickly ending the call. It was well after working hours, she was just hanging around to hang around, and had the bank of computers to work with.

She knew exactly what she needed to do. Rent a fiancé. She immediately began looking up escorts for hire.

* * *

　  
Derek was still at the office rather late. He used the gym there, instead of going home. He stopped in his office, grabbed some things he could read over the weekend, then planned on going out with some woman. It was Friday night; he usually partied that night of the week.

He noticed a light coming out of P's office. What was she doing here still? It was damn late, she was usually gone a long time before that. He snuck by and saw that she was holding a laptop, talking to someone. She was using her personal laptop, why wouldn't she just use one of the many ones in her office? It intrigued him. He took a step in.

"Each gentleman you look over is purely professional, well educated, and of course, very good looking," the woman over the computer said.

"I've never done anything like this before," Penelope said, her voice almost a whisper.

"Don't be embarrassed, miss," computer lady said again. "A lot of women hire someone for this kind of function. More than you would ever guess."

"Okay," she said, still whispering. "How much?"

"Depending on what you are needing, and from what you described, it's top of the line." The woman paused for just a minute. "It would be about three thousand dollars. You would need to incur all travel after you reach our LA office."

"Dear God," she said. It was obvious she didn't think whatever she was doing was going to be quite that expensive.

"Of course, if you want private intimate entertainment, that is extra above and beyond, usually starting at five hundred."

_Intimate entertainment? _His mouth dropped. _Oh, baby girl, what the hell are you doing?_  
_  
_"I'm not going to want that." She said it so quickly and so flatly, Derek nearly laughed.

"Okay, miss, have you browsed the pictures and chosen someone?" The voice was prompting her, very friendly, like she was choosing a dress instead of a man.

"Yes, I-"

Derek reached around her and shut the laptop. "No, you haven't."　


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_AN:Thank you so much for the reviews! Will answer chapter one reviews a little later; wanted to put this out first. Here's the next chapter....._

Penelope glanced up at her dear friend and her heart started to pound. She wondered how much he overheard. Lord, this was embarrassing. She didn't want him to know; she didn't want _anyone_ to know what she was doing.

"In answer to your question, I heard more than I wanted to hear," he said, flatly.

She wasn't surprised he said something. She didn't have to verbalize half the time for him to understand what she was thinking. She hated that. She was a damn book sometimes to him; she was that easy to read.

"How can you think of hiring an escort?" he asked with a scowl. "That's like hiring a hooker, P."

"Only if I wanted to pay more."

He frowned even more at her. "You don't know what kind of man you are going to get. That isn't right. Some guy might take advantage of you, and-"  
　  
"Derek, I have no choice," she said, interrupting him. She sighed. "I have to have a date next month for my family reunion. Don't you think I would've done anything to avoid having to do this?"

"Why not Lynch?"

"We broke up a couple of weeks ago," she said. "Besides, I got myself in deep water by opening my big mouth to my aunt and cousin."

"About damn time," he muttered under his breath, then he looked at her quizzically. "What kind of deep water?"

She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. "I told them I was engaged."

"Why would you do that?"

"Stupid cousin," she said honestly. "She irritates me like a fingernails on a chalkboard. She's my nemesis, always has been."

"Still doesn't explain why you'd say you were engaged." He raised an eyebrow and peered at her. "Why that?"

She didn't know where it came from, but her eyes watered a little. Good lord, she didn't want to cry. This wasn't worth crying over. This was stupid.

"Ah," he said, looking at her. "I think I get it."

His voice was soft and gentle, not judging her at all. He was, if anything, a very good friend to her.

"She always said I'd never find anyone, much less Prince Charming." She sniffled a little. "I got sick of her badgering and told her I found him."

"It's easier to just tell the truth, P."

"You don't understand," she said, looking up at him and frowning. "I didn't think you would. I am not going to go there and be the object of pity. Not now. I won't do that to myself." She opened her laptop. "I just need to call that number again."

"No, you don't," he said, shutting the laptop again, and taking it out of her hands.

She glared at him. "Give it back, Morgan."

"No, for three reasons," he said, putting the laptop down and squatting in front of her so he was eye level with her. "Number one, you are too damn beautiful to be the object of pity for anyone."

She scoffed at him. "Yeah, right."

"You are; trust me." She shook her head, so he added with a smirk, "I am an expert judge of women, wouldn't you say?"

She laughed. She couldn't go against that one!

"Number two," he continued. "It's simply not safe for you to be with some damn guy like that. I consider it an honor and a privilege to protect you. This is one of those cases where I obviously need to."

"I don't have a choice," she stated flatly again.

"That's number three," he said. "You don't need to call because I am volunteering for the job."

"No, you are not!" She started to laugh. "Are you crazy? You'd have to act like you were engaged to me, kissing and all that stuff."

"So?"

She looked at him. He wasn't as adverse to that idea as she thought he would be. She blushed a little. "We're friends, Derek. It would be awkward."

"And kissing and pretending to love some guy you don't even know would be less awkward?" His eyebrow lifted. "Tell me how that would be possible?"

She wanted to answer the affirmative to that. She'd never have to face that guy again after that week. She didn't think that would fly with Morgan. So instead, she said, "Derek, it'll change things. I can't let you do it."

"I insist," he said, standing up. "Where are we going?"

"Napa valley," she said, then added quickly, "but you're not going."

"Yes, I am," he said. "Always wanted to see wine country."

She stood up in front of him and pursed her lips, determined and a more than a little angry. "I am telling you; it won't work."

One minute, she was standing there arguing with him, the next his hand came up behind her neck, dragged her to him, and he kissed her. This was not a friendly little peck, like you'd give a friend. This… ooh, Lord! This was a kiss.

Her head dipped back under the onslaught from the pressure of his kiss. She started to sway on her feet; it was dizzying the rush of pleasure she felt. She couldn't think or move. She just stood there, tingling. His arms slid around her, holding her close to him, as he continued to kiss her.

Just as she was ready to participate, he lifted his head and stepped away.

"Told you it would work," he said, smiling at her. "See you tomorrow."

And he left, just before she slumped back into her chair.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_AN: Hello, again! Have a little break, so I am posting three. Will answer chapter 2 reviews shortly......_

Penelope was sitting on a plane with Derek, about twenty minutes from landing in California. She had the window seat, but didn't bother to look out. She was too nervous and excited to really enjoy the flight.

She was still shell shocked on how it all happened. She still thought it was a bad idea, Derek coming with. Even after that kiss, she was going to tell him no. Actually, she did tell him no the next day. Citing what this would do to their friendship, she told him thanks, but no thanks.

"Everything is going to change, Morgan."

"It'll be fine," he said. "Trust me."

The rest of the month, he acted absolutely the same as he always did. He flirted like hell with her over the phone, came over for movies and pizza, proving that nothing at all was different…. For him.

She, on the other hand, found herself staring at his mouth a lot more than she used to. She always wondered what it would be like to kiss Derek. He was gorgeous, she had a lifelong crush on him, but she never thought she'd actually get to give him anything more than a friendly peck. She thought she was a realist; she was certain that women like her did not end up kissing men like him.

Obviously she was wrong.

Now that she had kissed him, she started wondering a lot more things. The plain old friendly chemistry between them presented itself as a lot more than just friendly, at least for her. She felt kind of bad for feeling that way; it wasn't Derek's fault he was so damn attractive. Not many women were able to resist him, she was no different than them.

She ended up agreeing with him, since he was the same ol' Derek after all. He didn't change; maybe this would work. She told him begrudgingly after a week she'd let him come with.

"Good! I'm glad. See? It'll work," he said, sounding thoroughly pleased with the situation. He paused for a moment, then he smirked, adding, "And I won't even charge you five hundred if you want _intimate entertainment_."

She blushed about six shades of red before she walked away.

The glint of the diamond on her hand caught her eye again. That was the oddest part of the whole thing. She had a cheesy cubic zirconia ring she bought on QVC that she was going to use as the engagement ring. It was pretty, just flashy enough to get some attention, but not lingering attention.

Derek absolutely refused. "I will be damned if any fiancée of mine wears a cubic zirconia ring."

"I'm not a real fiancée," she explained.

"To everyone there, you are," he said, shooting her down effectively. "Don't make me look cheap, woman."

The next day, he stopped into her office and knelt in front of her. He reached for her hand, pulled the fake ring off, and produced a fantastic diamond ring that took her breath away.

"This is the right way to do it," he said, smiling softly at her. "On my knee, with a damn good diamond."

Her heart pounded in her ears and her heart started to melt, before she mentally kicked herself. This was just a fake engagement; no reason to get all schmaltzy over it. Still, she blinked back tears; the ring was gorgeous, a very moving sight.

"Thank you," she said, her voice a little hoarse. "But you shouldn't have. That's a lot of money for a temporary engagement."

His smile dropped a little, and he stood up. "Don't worry about it; you're worth it."

"Yeah," she said, looking again at the gorgeous stone. "It'll convince them, that's for sure. Now if only I can-"

"Like I said, don't worry," he said, bending over to kiss the top of her head. "Believe me; they will have no doubt how much your fiancé loves you."

For second, looking at the sincerity in his eyes, even she believed her fiancé loved her. He was a very good friend to try that hard for her. "Thanks, honey," she said, standing to give him a hug. "I appreciate it."

"I know," he said, holding her for a minute.

"Hey," she said excitedly, thinking of something. "When we get back, maybe you can pawn this and get some of your money back?"

He pulled away and looked at her, his eyebrows knitting, for just a moment, before he smiled and laughed.

"Always practical." He touched the tip of her nose. "I've got to work. See you tonight?"

She nodded and he left.

"We are beginning our descent into San Francisco. Please fasten your seat belts, raise your tray tables, and make sure your seats are in the upright and locked position."

Derek smirked over at her. "How many times a day do you think she has to say that?"

Penelope shuddered. "Think about how many times she's said it in her lifetime."

He laughed, then reached over and held her hand. She looked down where her left hand joined his, and wished for just a second again that this was real. She looked up at him, his eyes were warm and soft.

He raised her hand a touch. "In case you get scared with landing," he said.

"I don't," she said.

He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "Well, maybe I do."

She smiled; that was a bald face lie. He couldn't be a profiler and hate flying. She held his hand and squeezed. She didn't care what the reason was; she was going to keep holding on as long as she could.  
　


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_AN: Thank you for the reviews, folks. You make me want to type a zillion stories...._

When they landed in San Francisco, it was sunny and gorgeous. It took them only a few minutes to get their bags and leave the concourse. When they walked outside, there was a limousine waiting to take them to Napa Valley. Derek was highly impressed; he wasn't expecting anything like that.

"My uncle," she explained. "When anyone travels to his area, he makes sure they arrive in style."

Derek sank back in the seats and looked out the window. He hadn't been in a limousine since prom a million years ago. He forgot how nice the ride was in one of them. Back then, he rode with Cindy Erickson, the cheer captain and his date for that evening.

This time, his companion was so much better.

She was looking out the window. "Did you see the Golden Gate bridge?"

"Been to San Francisco before, but as an agent, not a tourist." He looked out her window. "Strange. I never really looked at it."

He thought about it. He'd seen the majority of the country, including parts of Alaska and Hawaii, but never truly saw much of anything. He could tell you the gory details of crimes that happened outside of most major cities, but the landmarks were a loss to him.

"I think it's really pretty," she said, then she looked at him and gave him a disgruntled look. "I hate that Hollywood is always blowing it up in movies."

Derek reached his hand over and gave hers a squeeze. "Poor baby."

She scowled up at him. "How would you feel if they blew up Wrigley Field?"

He gave a look of mock horror. "Say it ain't so!"

She started to smile, and turned back towards the window. A moment later, she yawned. "Sorry," she said. "Didn't sleep well last night."

The driver rolled down the partition between the seats. "We are experiencing some traffic. You arrived during rush hour, folks. Napa is usually only ninety minutes from San Fran, but we're looking at a good extra hour at least."

They nodded at the driver, who was looking in the rearview mirror, and he rolled up the partition again.

Penelope began to apologize to Derek, "I'm so sorry, hot stuff. I forgot the time difference when I bought the tickets, and-"

"Baby, it's okay. It's no hardship to have to spend extra time in a limo. Actually, I consider it a bonus," he said, beaming at her. "I get to be alone with you a little while longer."

She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. He wondered what he said wrong, but didn't push it. She was probably just tired.

* * *

　  
Penelope felt rather awful at the moment. Of course he'd be happy having to delay his time into beautiful wine country. That meant less time he'd have to spend playing her doting fiancé. She was an idiot; this week was so unfair to Derek. The man was too chivalrous for his own good.

She had another huge yawn, followed immediately by another. In the middle of that yawn, he reached his arm around her and pulled her against his side, so she was resting on his shoulder.

She tried to sit up. "Hey, I'm fine."

"Woman, just rest and leave it alone, okay?" He hit a button, which reclined the seats. She didn't know they could do that.

She thought of arguing, but he felt wonderful and warm. The steady beat of his heart was lulling her to sleep. She closed her eyes, and drifted off.

It felt like only seconds later when the driver announced, "We will be arriving at the resort in fifteen minutes."

Penelope slowly opened her eyes. She was snuggled even closer to Morgan, her cheek pressed into his chest, her leg was on his knee, and her hand curled up by his neck. His one hand was stroking her back, her waist, her side, while the other rested on the arm that was near her neck.

"Wow," she said. She sat up, pushed her sleep mussed hair back from her face, and moved away with a blush. "Didn't mean to crawl all over you like that."

"I didn't mind." He smiled wolfishly. "In fact, I liked it."

She smiled and shook her head, then turned to look out the window. The sun was beginning to set over the fields of grapes. It was a breathtaking vista.

"It's stunning, isn't it?" she asked. "The view."

"Very beautiful," he said, his voice was kind of strange and thick. It was odd enough that she glanced over at him.

It looked like he was staring right at her. His eyes were dark, rather like when he kissed her in the office. It gave her goose bumps, and she wasn't cold.

She shook her head for being fanciful and pressed herself more into the seats. "You probably can't see around me. Look."

He gave a winsome smile. "I saw, honey. Thanks."

They arrived at the palatial estate. It was rich and beautiful, mostly marble with a Tuscan-like feel. Penelope's heart started to race and her nerves came back full force.

Derek moved his hand over and gave hers a squeeze again. Just that little touch was reassuring. She met his warm eyes, and felt so much better.

The driver opened the door and she stepped out. Aunt Mary was there to greet them, as was Uncle Irwin. Near them was bitchy, beautiful Bridget, and some hunk that must've been her newest boyfriend.

She noticed Bridget's gaze was locked on the other door of the car. She was nearly smirking; she obviously was amused at the thought of who would be Penelope's fiance. There was a certainty on her face that whomever exited that limo would be far less than stellar.

For the first time in her life, Penelope stared at her nasty cousin. Normally, she barely saved her a glance, she was such a nasty piece of work. But at this moment, she wanted more than anything to see her expression when Derek exited the car.

She was richly rewarded just a moment later. Derek stepped out and Bridget's jaw dropped. Her eyes narrowed with acute lust, then opened wide with pure shock. Her mouth made a little circle. She then glanced over at Penelope, who was doing the smirking now, and immediately resumed the ice queen façade she was famous for.

"Aunt Mary," Penelope said, giving the woman a hug. "Nice to see you."

"Penelope, sweetheart." Her aunt was beaming with genuine delight at P being there. She smiled at Derek.

"This is Derek, my best friend," she said, out of pure habit.

"Derek Morgan, Penelope's fiancé," he said, putting his arm around Penelope's waist, before shaking both Mary and Irwin's hands.

Penelope blushed. She completely forgot. This was going to be an issue.

"Smart man. I married my best friend thirty years ago," Irwin said, wrapping his arm around Mary. "Best decision I ever made."

Derek grinned. "I thought it was a fabulous idea, too."

Penelope was a little confused. What the heck was he talking about?

"Since nobody thought to say anything about me," Bridget's husky low purr sounded out from the back. She worked her way to the front of the crowd. "I'm Bridget, and this is my boyfriend, Brock."

Derek shook her hand, but never removed his arm from Penelope's side.

Brock made his way over to Penelope and reached for her hand. She thought he was going to shake it, but he didn't. Instead, he leaned over and kissed the back of her hand, lingering a bit too long for her comfort.

"Hello there, cousin Penelope." He gave her a look that made her skin crawl.

Derek pulled her closer to his side. She was glad for his support.

"You two must need to freshen up. You need to register for your room; go to the desk and tell them your name." Mary was still beaming. She leaned over and whispered excitedly, "It's a special surprise for both of you."

They made it to the desk and Penelope gave her name. The clerk gave a devilish smile. "Ah, the couple for the honeymoon suite. Welcome!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

_AN: Lunchbreak! Here comes five...._

Penelope wanted to lay down and die. She was being escorted, along with her best friend, to the most private, most romantic suite in the entire resort. She hung her head. She didn't give a damn what the bellboy carrying the bags thought of her, she felt like a dog.

Poor Derek. He must be cringing over the whole thing. She knew this room had only one bed. All the honeymoon suites had just one big bed. The other rooms all had two queens; before they arrived, she was sure that was what they were going to get.

They walked into the room. Derek tipped the bellboy, and she explored. It was worse than she thought. It was a big, canopied curtained bed. Plus, there was a massive whirlpool off in a corner. She couldn't stop staring warily at the bed, the big made-for-sex bed that dominated the room. She did not plan for this; this is not what she asked for. Derek was going to think she planned this.

"This is all wrong," she said, starting to panic. "Good heavens, we can't sleep here. Not in that! I wanted two beds, and-"

"Relax," Derek said. His tone was flat, and he was frowning. "I'm not going to attack you, P. It's big enough we can both sleep in it without any problem."

She blushed. "I'm sorry. This is not what I wanted. I want-"

"Stop," he said harshly. "I know what you want; I won't touch you. I won't do a damn thing to hurt our friendship. Just leave it alone."

"Derek-"

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" He was glaring at her. "If you are that fucking uncomfortable sharing a bed with me, I can sleep on the floor."

"No," she said quietly. What was he so angry about? "That's not necessary."

He looked at her, then ran a hand over his face. He sighed, and waited a moment before he spoke. "Look, baby girl. I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you and I volunteered for this. I just want you to know I'm completely okay with this, with anything that happens."

She walked over to him. "Thank you."

He put his hand under her chin and met her eyes. "If I make you uncomfortable, if you want me to go at any time, I will."

She wrapped her arms around him. "No," she said fiercely. "Please stay. I…just feel so awful about lying to them and making you do this in the first place. I worry it's going to get worse and worse."

"Baby," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Being with you in beautiful wine country in a fantastic, romantic suite is not a bad thing in any way, shape or form. Believe me."

She smirked up at him. "Say that after they've named our first child."

He laughed. "I'm going to get some ice for that wine they have sitting over there. You get changed, and we'll hit dinner."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Dinner with the Carsons' was an experience. Penelope was at one end of the table with Brock, three other cousins, and Uncle Irwin. Derek was down with Aunt Mary, Bridget, and about five other female cousins.

The men were in the other room having cigars and brandy, while the women were all chatting in a different area. It was an old tradition that the family did before supper at all of these things, an archaic business practice. She found out the seating arrangements there.

Penelope tried to make a trade. "Bridget, would you trade so you can be by Brock?"

"Nonsense, cousin dear; I see Brock all the time. I'd _love_ to spend more time with that man of yours," she said with a pinch-lipped smile. "Find out what he sees in you."

Penelope glared at the bitch. She was done taking her crap. She started to walk away.

"Of course, honey," Bridget spat, smoothing her dress over her perfect curves. "It will be _so_ nice to hear him talk about his true love for you."

Penelope's heart started to pound. Could Bridget tell he was faking? Could she tell they weren't engaged? Her palms started to sweat.

Derek must've entered the room awhile earlier, because he was right behind her. She was surprised to see him.

He pulled her into his arms. "I missed you," he said huskily, just before his mouth descended on hers.

That same dizzying rush hit her the moment his mouth did. She needed that, needed to lose herself in him, if only for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back.

It morphed into something fantastic almost immediately. She forgot about Bridget or any of the other Carsons there. There was just Derek and his sweet mouth. His hands slid down her back, and held her just a bit closer.

A moment later, he lifted his head. He rested his forehead on hers, and they both caught their breath, then he spoke. "Are you doing okay, baby girl? I saw you talking to Bridget; you didn't look happy."

She felt like ice hit her. Of course it was an act. A very persuasive one, even she was falling for it. She tried to step away from him, but his arms stayed around her.

"I'm fine, hot stuff. They have you sitting a million miles away. I wanted to swap, but she wouldn't. I wasn't happy."

He frowned. "Why the hell do they seat people like that?"

"Make us have to mingle with the family we don't see much," she said. "I know, it's stupid, but we have to deal."

"Well," he said, pulling her close to give her one more lingering kiss. "I don't like it, I will miss you, but I can deal. Be good." He swatted her bottom, winked at her, and walked away to his end of the table.

She made it to her end of the table. Before she could do anything, Brock rose and helped her into her chair.

"So glad we're together here, sweet little cousin. We can get to know each other," he said with a leer. "Maybe intimately."

She almost wished she was wearing a turtleneck; he kept speaking to her boobs. This man was a pig. What on earth was Bridget doing with him?

She shot him down. "Believe me, I know you, and Bridget, well enough."

They barely made it through the first course before he was at it again. She almost completely ignored him. She looked down at the other end of the table. Bridget was very animated talking to Derek, leaning over seductively towards him. Bridget's perfect pair were nearly out of her low cut dress. He was laughing at something she said. She wondered if Derek noticed that Bridget was the most beautiful woman in the room.

At that moment, he glanced down and looked at her. He met her eyes and smiled. She smiled back, but it was rather forced. She looked away and joined the conversation on her end again. She talked, but she didn't have a clue what she said.

* * *

The dinner mercifully came to an end. After dinner, a reception was planned for the for the cousins. The elders, the aunts and uncles, were going to be heading up to sleep. She excused herself from the table, and made her way over to her aunt to give her a hug goodnight.

When she reached Aunt Mary, she was so excited. The woman was practically glowing with happiness.

"Oh, Penelope, you made the right decision saying yes to him!" She gushed. "That man loves you! He told us how you met, how he called you the wrong name and gave you a nickname. He said you saved his life, you're his….what did he say? Oh, his solace. You give him peace."

She gaped at her aunt. She couldn't help it. He didn't lie; he just talked about them. In the context, she could see how it would sound romantic. He was a wonderful man, her Derek.

"Yes, I know," she said. She didn't need to lie, either. "I love him, too."

"I'm so happy for you," she said, tears in her eyes. "I always wanted the best for my favorite sister's daughter, my favorite niece, and you...Oh! Here he comes."

He put his arm around her said and kissed the top of her head. "You ready, angel?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Goodnight, Derek's baby girl," Aunt Mary said with a smile.

Penelope couldn't help it. She beamed back at her. "Goodnight."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_AN: This is my favorite kind of chapter to write...._

Penelope watched Aunt Mary leave, then started heading towards the elevator to their suite. The honeymoon suite was on the top floor, she was too tired to take the stairs. Derek was right behind her. Or so she thought.

"Woman, pump your brakes."

She turned to see him standing absolutely still in the middle of the lobby. She gave him a questioning look.

"The party is over there," he said, pointing at the reception room.

She glanced over there, then back at him. He took a few steps closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him.

"You don't want to go?" he said, arching an eyebrow.

"Well," she said. "It was a long day traveling, and I didn't want you to have to go if you didn't want to, so I thought I'd-"

Derek shook his head. "No, honey. This is for you, this whole vacation. We are going to do what you want, when you want." He gave her a little half grin. "Exactly how you want it, too."

She smiled back. "You're a wicked man, Derek Morgan."

"I aim to please," he said, wiggling his eyebrows before kissing her quickly on the lips.

She wished he'd stop doing that when there was no one around. It made her all flushed, and she couldn't concentrate. Most of all, it made her want to keep kissing him, and that just wouldn't do.

"C'mon," he said, taking her hand and leading her into the reception hall.

The hall was beautifully decorated with marble pillars, vines and a dimly lit atmosphere that added to the Tuscan appeal of the estate. There was a full bar, lots of wait staff, many tables and a large dance floor. Earlier in the evening, there was a band that played jazz music. Now there was a DJ throwing out an eclectic mix of hits.

They joined a nearby table with a few of Penelope's cousins. The server took their order. Penelope ordered a glass of Pinot Noir. Derek got a beer. She shook her head at him.

"What?"

"The middle of California wine country and you order a beer." She shook her head again, making a tsking sound.

He grinned at her. "Tomorrow, you can educate me on the finer wines to drink in a dancing establishment, but for tonight, I'm kickin' it and having a beer."

She leaned closer to peer at him, and arched a brow. "Can't take you anywhere, can I?"

He leaned even closer, just a breath away from her. "You can keep me in the room the whole time if you'd like, sweetheart. Just say the word."

She was saved, sort of, from answering anything. "Sort of" being the operative words because Bridget and Brock showed up.

"My, my," she said, batting her big brown eyes. "So sweet and intimate here. How charming."

The two of them sidled up next to them at the high topped table. They split, which surprised Penelope. Brock sat over by her, and Bridget was squeezing herself between their fifty year old cousin, Amanda, and Derek. She was happy when Derek moved closer, away from Bridget.

"How long have you two been dating?" Brock asked. The man made Penelope want to retch.

"We've known each other for six years. I just finally talked her into going out with me. I had to beg and plead, but I won," Derek answered. "I'm persistent when I really want someone."

His eyes were hot, and staring directly at her. Her heart started to pound and she felt herself starting to tingle. She licked her suddenly dry lips. Wow, he was convincing. Derek missed his calling. He could've been on the stage.

"But you're engaged. How could you just be dating and be engaged?" Bridget asked, sounding miffed. She was trying her best to get Derek to look at her, but he was very focused on Penelope.

"Don't need to date long if you know it's right." He winked at Penelope before he turned to Bridget. "And, Bridget? It's right."

Penelope watched Bridget get that shell-shocked, irritated look on her face again and her heart started to soar. She didn't give a damn if it was real or not, it still felt so damn good.

"Well. Brock. I need a drink." Bridget stood.

Brock stayed by Penelope's side. He reached an arm up around her to tug one of her curls. "Did I tell you I was star quarterback at USC? The Trojans haven't been the same without me. I'd love to show you some-"

"Brock. Drink. Now."

He looked absolutely pained, before returning to leer at Penelope. "Duty calls, gorgeous. Dance with me later?"

Penelope thought she heard Derek growl, but she couldn't verify it, because Bridget walked over and dragged Brock away.

For the first time in her life, Penelope actually felt sorry for Bridget. She didn't know why anyone would lower themselves so much to date someone like Brock.

"Glad they're gone," he said, shaking his head. "Those two are pieces of work."

She giggled. "The whole family is not that bad, I promise!"

"I should hope not," he said. "Otherwise I'd be worried about you."

She smiled, then said what she wanted to since he first shut Bridget up. "Thank you, Derek. You were wonderful there."

"You're easy to be wonderful for," he said, giving her another kiss. This time, it was lingering and sweet. She knew why he was doing it. There were a lot of people around this time. Still, she just enjoyed and didn't think about it.

He pulled away and took her hand, standing up. "I know how you can repay me for being such a prince."

"I didn't say you were a prince, Morgan," she quipped.

He ignored her and started leading her to the dance floor.

The music was one of the club beats, and she dug her heels in. She did not dance to this hip hop stuff; she did not dance period, end of story. It didn't stop him.

She started to panic. "Derek. I don't dance. I don't know how. I've never done this. Oh, God. I'll look like an idiot. I-"

"Just hush and dance," he said. "Besides, I'll teach you. I'm one of the best."

She laughed, arching a brow. "That's mighty cocky, isn't it?"

He smirked back at her. "It's not cocky if it's true."

He lead her out onto the floor. His hands held hers, his eyes locked with hers. "Start with step touch, step touch, just like that… a little slower, this beat.. yes, that's it! Now, I'm going to step closer, and put my hand on your back." He did exactly as he said he would. His warm palm felt good splayed against her. "You put your hands anywhere you want, sweetheart."

His other hand guided her hand behind his neck, she placed the other on his chest. She could feel the beat of his heart, matching the beat of the music. He was swaying with her a little, the step, touch, being driven more from her hips than her legs now.

He was standing very close to her; she could feel the heat radiating off his body. Yet they were barely touching. He didn't force any movement, he coaxed. She just wanted to be near him.

It was easy dancing with him. He was focused on her, one hundred percent. She didn't notice the others around them; she just noticed him and the music.

His hands on her low back rubbed in low, concentric circles. He took a step closer, in exact rhythm with her movements, and moved his leg in between hers. She put both hands on his shoulders, and closed her eyes, feeling the strength of his muscles moving beneath her palms.

His hands slid slowly, very slowly to her bottom, directing their movements even more to the beat. Her hips moved with his with every sway, every crescendo. "That's it, baby girl," he murmured thickly by her ear. "Now you got it."

Penelope felt so hot, her body was throbbing from more than the beat. He had to know how affected she was by him. She was starting to feel dizzy, and she was aroused. Her nerve endings were firing; the tips of her breasts were peaking, and warmth and throbbing centered between her legs. God, just from dancing with him!

She needed to put an end to this before she did something stupid. She opened her eyes, and saw the heat in his eyes, too. Any thoughts of stopping went out the door. "Derek," she said, moving her hands slowly to his chest, as he leaned his head down and kissed her.

It only lasted a second. Cousin Amanda bumped into them with her husband, cousin Chad. "So sorry there!" she said, sincerely upset. "I'm not very good at this, and-"

Her husband just pulled her away, and went back to dancing.

Derek chuckled. "It must be a family trait to babble when you're nervous."

Penelope giggled, too. "Must be."

She sighed. Whatever was there, whatever unbelievable attraction that was there before they were interrupted, was sadly gone. Now, there was just a slightly awkward silence and them standing on the dance floor, not dancing.

After a moment, he smirked at her. "Want another glass of wine?"

"Most definitely," she said, relieved.

They both walked back to the table and visited with everyone else for the rest of the night. They laughed, they had fun, but they didn't dance together again, and they barely touched. She found herself missing it.

On the way up to the room, Penelope thought of two things. One, she could become very addicted to his touches; she was starting to crave them. And two, more than anything, she really wanted to dance with him again… even if it was just one more time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

_AN: Thanks again for the reviews, everyone. I really appreciate them. Keeps me typing and updating..._

When they arrived in the room, they were both really tired. They were just chatting for awhile, acting like nothing was different, but there was an edge underneath it all. She couldn't stop thinking about being in Derek's arms, dancing with him, kissing him.

She blinked rapidly. This feeling really had to go.

"Pen, baby girl," he said. "You alright?"

"Just tired."

"Okay, then I'm hitting the shower," he said, before he gave her a little smile. "Unless you want to hit the hot tub over there...."

"Lord, no." She was already so overheated, she was ready to jump the poor man. Sitting in the whirlpool with him wasn't going to help matters. She came up with an excuse. "Don't want to pull on my swimsuit."

"Who said anything about swimsuits?"

She smiled a little back. She walked right into that one.

"Get in the shower," she said, jokingly. "Take a cold one, while you're at it."

He sighed, then smiled at her wistfully."I guess I gotta."

She shook her head and laughed as he left the room.

Soon, they were both ready for bed. They gave each other a big hug, then climbed into the farthest reaches of the enormous king size bed. A mile of bed was between them. They even joked about it.

"What time zone are you in over there?" she asked with a smile. They could see each other plain as day. The bright Napa moonlight was streaming in from the terrace outside their suite. They didn't want to shut the curtain, it was too beautiful not to enjoy.

"I think I'm somewhere near London," he quipped. "What time zone is that?"

She needed to tell him how grateful she was for how wonderful he was being. They were both laying on their sides, facing each other.

"Derek?"

"What, honey?"

"Thank you for everything," she said.

"You're welcome, baby girl." He looked like he wanted to say something, but he obviously changed his mind. He smirked then. "Goodnight....way over there."

"Goodnight, over there in London town," she teased back, before she rolled over and went to sleep.

They were still really far away just before she closed her eyes. So how she awoke the next morning was a massive surprise for her. Her head was on his arm, her legs tangled with his. They were facing each other, she could feel his breath moving her wispy bangs. One of his hands was firmly planted on her bottom.

"Derek," she croaked out.

"Mmmm…baby…shhh," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. He patted her bottom, and pulled her a little closer. She heard his even breathing again.

She wiggled. "Hot stuff. Wake up." She barked that out.

He opened his eyes. For a moment, he smiled down at her, lazy bedroom eyes…..that immediately opened. He removed his hand from her butt and his thigh from between hers and rolled onto his back. He scootched over away from her and put his arm over his eyes.  
"Damn, baby girl, I am so sorry," he said.

"Don't be. I was right there, too," she said. She giggled. "It takes two to tangle."

He laughed too, then. "I suppose." He glanced at the clock. "Wow, I slept forever."

"Travel makes everyone tired."

"Not me, usually." He shrugged. "I get tired, but I can't sleep. This is unheard of." He grinned wickedly at her. "I have to sleep with you more often."

She rolled her eyes, then rolled out of bed. "Get up, silly. We have a whole day's worth of Carson activities to do."

They dressed and made it down to the meet and greet breakfast that was happening. At this she got to sit next to Derek. This meal was far more enjoyable. It almost felt like they were back in Virginia, just having a fun time with each other like normal.

"Hey, you two." Uncle Irwin showed up over at the table. "We have a winery tour at eleven, then flag football at five. You in?"

"Sounds like fun," Penelope said, looking over at Derek questioningly.

"Sure. Why not?"

　

* * *

  
Derek learned later why not. He had to endure the company of Bridget and Brock at both events. In particular, Brock. He had a subtle way about him that was challenging him for Penelope's affections. He did it in such a fashion, Derek couldn't just punch him and get it over with. He'd look like a complete ass in front of Pen's family. Brock's movements looked innocent, but they weren't.

It was more than just flirting. Derek could take it if all he did was flirt. No, the asshole was all over Penelope, in his "friendly little gestures."  
At the winery, the fucker couldn't keep his hands off of Penelope. Every time he had a chance, Brock was there to guide her, or hand her something, or some other thing that was driving Derek crazy. He even wanted to feed Penelope a piece of cheese out of his hand.

He began to wonder if he was tag teaming with Bridget to keep them apart. He didn't doubt it. In fact, he was certain of it by the end of the day.

Bridget was being very clingy. She kept asking him questions about Penelope. The woman was obviously extremely jealous of his baby girl. At the same time, she was giving him lustful looks like she wanted to lick him from head to toe. He had about enough of the ridiculous woman. He told her straight out he was taken, but she didn't care. Finally, he stopped being the gentleman his momma raised him to be. He was done being cordial to her; she didn't get subtlety at all.

"Derek," she said, touching his arm again. "I'm a woman who will make you really, really happy."

"I have the woman who makes me ecstatic," he said, removing her hand from his arm.

"Cousin Penelope? Please," she scoffed. "I highly doubt that."

"I don't give a damn what you think." He was focused on Penelope, who had Brock breathing down her throat. He never even noticed Bridget's shocked expression.

He'd had enough. He needed to get his baby girl away from the clutches of that asshole. He finally pushed his way over to where Brock had Penelope near the tasting spot by the wall. He pulled her into his arms, her back pressed flush with his front.

"Those other assholes keep sweeping you away from me. I don't give a damn if we're supposed to mingle with others," he said. "I'm done playing nice."

She giggled. "Derek, we need to visit-"

"No, that's not what _I _need. Not at all. What I need is _you_," he whispered fiercely in her ear. "So I am keeping you exactly like this for the rest of this excursion." He kissed the top of her head. "Maybe the rest of this trip."

"Thank God," she said.

She turned in his arms and looked so relieved and grateful, he couldn't help himself. He leaned down and kissed her. It was a short kiss, much shorter than he wanted, but it didn't lack heat. That didn't surprise him; he had a remarkable amount of chemistry with her.

He really did stay behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, his mouth near her ear. It felt so good, holding his baby girl. He never took his hands off of her, he flat out refused. She would turn a little in his arms and bring a glass of wine up so he could take a sip, feed him the crackers and cheese that were palate cleansers. She didn't seem to mind at all.

They ended up consuming a whole lot of wine, much more than they intended on. They were both pleasantly buzzed. The vineyard allowed exploring the vines. They were behind the rest of the group, walking towards the cabernet grapes.

"C'mon," he whispered by her ear. He put his finger up to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet, then he dragged her in the entirely opposite direction as the group.

She giggled; this was naughty, but fun. This was exactly what she needed. Sneaking away with her hot stuff, just a few minutes of being alone.

They made their way on the furrowed ground, their feet sinking into the soft, fertile earth. The warmth of the sun and the smell of the fresh wine grapes was intoxicating. He held her hand and they walked for a little bit in companionable silence.

She picked a grape off a vine and ate it. It was sour, but pleasant. "Try one," she said, picking another off. She placed it in his mouth. He had use of his arms now, he could feed himself, but she pretended not to notice. She liked doing it.

He looked down at her and his eyes darkened. "Penelope," he said, reaching his arms around her.

"Yes?" she asked. Her heart was beating a little bit faster.

"I would really, really like to kiss you."

She blinked at him. She really, really wanted him to kiss her.

"There's no one around to see it and I'm not trying to prove a damn thing." He pulled her closer, leaning down just a little bit. "I just want to kiss you."

He didn't let her say anything else. His hands framed her face and he just kissed her like he meant it.

She sighed and reached her hands up, curling in the front of his shirt. His mouth moved persuasively on hers; she opened her mouth and his tongue dipped in for a taste. Electric tingles shot through her and she felt her knees get weak. He must've known she was unsteady, he reached his hands down her body to hold her near.

"There you two are," Aunt Mary said, interrupting them. "Come on, kids. We have to go. Time for football." Aunt Mary smiled apologetically, before wandering back through the grapes.

She tried to get loose to go follow Mary, but Derek wouldn't let her go.

She smiled up at him; she didn't know what to say. The whole day seemed so real, so wonderful. She never wanted it to end. Must be the magic of California wine country, making her believe in fairy tales.

"Too much wine, huh?" she asked nervously.

He sighed, took her hand, and followed Mary. "Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_AN: Being a huge American football fan, I had a ton of fun writing this. Hope you like it, and as always, thanks for the reviews...._

Flag football ended up being the most rewarding experience of Derek's life to date. He was paying for it right now, but at the time, wild horses couldn't drag him away from that game.

It started off innocently enough. It was co-ed, girls against guys. Derek let Penelope get his flag so many times, it was ridiculous. He claimed he took one look at her and was so mesmerized, she could just steal it away.

"Just like she stole my heart," he said, winking at her, then laughing when she blushed.

The crowd of women made a collective sound of "Awwww!"

"Remind me never to have a fiancé of anyone on my team ever again," Jamie, one of the teenage male cousins quipped. "They're useless."

It made the other ladies laugh. The kid didn't know what was so funny.

The only bad part of the game was Brock. He would reach for Pen's flag and accidentally miss it, grabbing on to her bottom instead. Derek swore if he touched Penelope's ass one more time, Brock was going to leave with a bloody nub for a hand. Again, it was a damned innocuous thing that Derek knew he was doing on purpose.

"Screw the flags," Jamie said. "Let's play some real football."

"I'm out," one of the women said. Soon all the girls were off the field.

Derek was in. Oh, was he ever in. He knew he shouldn't be, he had a bad knee, but he was in. "I'll be a team captain. Brock, you be the other."

"Okay."

He couldn't stop grinning; he did exactly what Morgan hoped he'd do. The man just signed his own death warrant. He was going to knock that cocky, ass grabbing son of a bitch on his own ass more times than he could count.

Derek was counting on Brock being Brock. He knew the man would want to be quarterback, since he was a _USC quarterback_, after all. Derek almost laughed. The man was third string and had _no_ field time on his record, so whatever he was saying was a crock.

Derek smirked; Penelope wasn't the only one who could research things!

He was never so happy to be a profiler in his life. It just confirmed what he knew about Brock. Brock was a narcissistic egotist who had a serious open relationship with his equally narcissistic girlfriend. They were disgusting people, the only bad seeds in Pen's family, and they truly deserved each other.

Derek pulled the team together. "Jamie, can you throw?"

"Yeah," he said, confused. "Aren't you gonna be quarterback too?"

"Hell, no," Derek said. "I'm defensive left tackle. Along with cousin Bubba over there."

Bubba was Penelope's largest cousin, Rupert. He was ten years older than Derek and at least two hundred pounds heavier. And he looked hungry….for egotistical quarterback.

"Please say you have a plan," Bubba said, glaring over at Brock. "That man gets on my nerves."

Derek beamed at the man and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "Trust me; I do."

The rest of the ten man squad watched as Derek drew the first defensive play out on his hand. They put their hands together and yelled, "Hoorah!"

It was shirts versus skins in the superbowl of family reunions. Derek's team was the skins; Penelope insisted he go shirtless with a sexy little grin. He was more than happy to oblige.

The teams lined up. Brock called out his signals. The second the ball was snapped, Derek took off like a bat out of hell in a blitz pattern. He hit Brock just above the knees, knocking the man flat and the ball free. Rather agile Bubba recovered the fumble, and it was the skins' ball.

Between Derek and Bubba, they sacked Brock no less than eight times. Derek sacked him six times himself. He loved every second of it. He wasn't hurting him too seriously; but he knew it didn't feel good, either! He loved how flustered Brock was getting; it felt good to knock the smug look off his face.

The other shirts were miffed. They were not pleased at all at the plain old cunning of the skins. The shirts outsized the majority of the skins and were in a more prime age bracket. Brock chose the _premium_ players when dividing squads. Still, the skins managed to kick the shirts' asses.

They didn't hesitate in putting blame where they felt it was needed, on their quarterback. Brock was not at all pleased about this. He was angry and the majority of that anger was directed at Derek Morgan.

Derek was wide receiver for the team when he played offense. Jamie was throwing a beaut of a pass at him. He backed up and caught the ball, then neatly stepped out of bounds, away from the defensive tackles coming near him.

He didn't count on an extremely late hit coming at him. He already had the ball on the ground and was heading towards the huddle when Brock hit him from behind, directly behind his knees. He flew upward, heels over his head, and landed on his back.

He heard someone scream and assumed it was Penelope. He couldn't get up and look; he was still trying to breathe. It was no big deal. Derek had the wind knocked out of him so many times in his life he couldn't remember.

However, it was obviously a massive deal to Penelope.

She was over by his side immediately, kneeling on the ground right next to him. Serious worry graced her lovely face. "Oh my God, Derek! Are you okay?" She had tears in her eyes. "Please, please, talk to me."

He smirked at her, and finally got the first wave of air back in his lungs. "Honey," he gasped, laughing a little. He couldn't help it, she was so damn cute and concerned. "I'm fine."

"You didn't look fine," she said, swallowing. "It was awful looking."

He sat up. "I got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine."

"That was a dirty hit!" She hissed. "Now that I'm sure you're fine, I'm going to go kill Brock."

She scrambled to her feet and seriously headed towards the area where Brock was standing.

The man took one look at the furious blonde and took off.

Derek was behind her with his arms around her, stopping her from running off. "Baby, I'm fine," he said, kissing the side of her neck. "Don't let him waste any more of your time."

She agreed, but it was with a serious pout.

"Skins won," Matt, the oldest cousin on the shirts team, said. "Wish I could say it was a fair contest, but I can't."

"We won fair and square," Jamie cried out.

"No," Matt said, laughing. "We cheated and we still lost!"

The teams decided to meet in the bar and have pizza and beer. Derek pulled on his shirt, much to Penelope's chagrin, and they headed inside with the rest of the family.

The bar had a minimum of seats. Derek sat down and pulled Penelope onto his lap. They settled in and got the first round of everything. He ate like a horse. He was hungry as hell, his knees ached, but he was happier than he'd been in years.

The woman on his lap seemed genuinely pleased, too. Then she looked worried. "Honey, I'm far too heavy, and you're hurt, and this is probably not-"

"Stop that brain of yours from thinking so much, park that motor mouth and just let me enjoy you for a little while, okay?"

She obviously thought of talking for a second, then blushed, and relaxed.

They all chatted and had a great time until it was dark out. Derek snuck in a lot of little kisses. He was happy; Penelope snuck in quite a few of her own.

"Well, I suppose it's time to call it a day," Cousin Bubba said. "See you around tomorrow, cousin Derek."

Morgan was amazed for just a moment. It was the first time anyone referred to him as being one of the cousins, too. He was being accepted into the Carson fold, and he liked it more than he could ever explain.

Then he thought about Penelope and that she felt it was all a lie. He thought it was rather ironic. What if her family wanted him, and she really didn't?

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. "Woman, get up. Let's hit the sack."

She stood up and he did after, with a slight groan. There was no doubt, he was stiff.

Damn. He was getting old. He was going to pay for this whole day big time, but he still felt it was worth it.

* * *

On the way up to the room, Penelope noticed that Derek wasn't moving as quickly as he usually did. She felt awful for him. He hopped in the shower, then came out wearing just his pajama bottoms. He walked out, smiled at her, then collapsed on the bed, face down.

Penelope jumped into the shower and came out in her t-shirt nightgown. She climbed into bed next to Derek. He was very quiet.

"Are you sleeping?" she whispered.

"No," he grunted, his face still in the pillow.

"Can I do anything to make it better?" He was so good to her family today, and so good to her, she just wanted to make him happy.

"Give me a new body, and I'll be fine." He wasn't moving.

That decided it for her. She stood up and walked back into the bathroom. She came out with a bottle of lotion. It was vanilla pear scented. He'd just have to deal with that. She wandered to his side of the bed, and pulled the comforter down to his bottom.

He turned his head and looked at her. "Whatcha doing?"

"I can't let you hurt," she said, climbing up on the bed. "So I'm going to give you a massage."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_AN: Thanks so much for the reviews. Warning: strong sexual content..._

He didn't say anything to mention his agreement or disagreement with her plan, so now she was rather nervous. She bit her bottom lip. In order to do this properly, she really needed to be in a better spot. She didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was. She brought her right leg over him and sat down on his butt. "You okay?"

He murmured the affirmative.

She retireved the lotion, putting some in her hands to warm it up. She kneaded the muscles in his upper shoulders, then moved down the sure strength of his arms, before trailing back up again. He had such beautiful arms; he was beautiful everywhere.

She was worried she was pushing too hard, until she heard him moan from under her. She smiled. It was all the encouragement she needed.

She stroked the muscles in his upper back. She could feel his muscles relaxing more and more under her hands. It was a powerful thing, giving him pleasure. Another type of pleasure popped into her head, and a little thrill ran through her...

She turned her thoughts away from that. She wasn't doing this so she could get off. She wanted him to be completely contented, like a lazy cat. She needed to keep it out of her mind that she was doing something she only dreamt about- touching Derek's bare skin.

She retrieved more lotion before running her hands alongside the length of his spine. She made low circles from between his shoulders down his low back, then back up again. Over and over, she worked the taut muscles, feeling their warmth and strength gradually loosening.

He let out a sigh of pleasure that caused tingles to run up her spine. She never heard a man sound like that before in her life.

"Oh, baby girl," he purred. There was no other word for the satisfied content sound of his voice.

She licked her lips; they were suddenly dry. She didn't realize she was panting. She closed her eyes, and continued to rub his low back.

She made circles lower and lower, rubbing the lowest curve of his back. His pajama pants were slung low on his hips, she was able to reach just a bit lower before she ran out of skin. He drew his breath in sharp intakes each time she reached lower.

The thought came back, unbidden and unapologetic. She was astride Derek Morgan's hips with nothing but his pajama pants and her thin panties between them. She was touching him, feeling the body she dreamt about for five years.

And he was encouraging her.

She felt the tips of her breasts tighten and a low throb began between her legs in a definite awakening of desire. She couldn't fight it anymore, and she really didn't want to. She just needed to continue touching this man.

She touched him, running her hands up the long stretch of his back, over to his shoulders. She leaned over him, her hips rocking forward, to reach his arms.

Her sensual motion caused him to react. Quickly and smoothly, he turned under her, his hands reaching for her waist, holding her still. His eyes were hot, dark, and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing into her softness.

Derek slid his arms up her back. She leaned forward, stretching out on his chest and kissed him. He reached for her, deepening the kiss. He was obviously as starved for her as she was for him.

The kiss inflamed her. She was greedy, opening her mouth to get more of his taste. He stroked her tongue with his own, his lips caressed hers. She moaned and felt herself falling deeper under the passionate spell of his kisses.

He broke the kiss to murmur a gentle command. He tugged on her nightgown. "Take this off, sweetheart."

She didn't even consider not complying. She wanted her bare skin to touch his with a fierce passion she didn't know she had. She sat up, then pulled the nightgown over her head. When she looked back down at him, his eyes were nearly black with passion. She shivered with want.

She leaned back down and kissed him again, pressing her bare breasts into his chest. She moaned; it felt so good, so right to be with him. She wanted so much, so much more. But most of all, she wanted him.

"God, how I want you," he said, murmuring against her lips. "Baby girl, I have never wanted anyone as much as I want you."

She continued to kiss him, starting to ache for completion. She rocked her hips against his, trying desperately to get closer to him. It was everything she ever wanted, and she was loving every minute of it.

The passion in him took control. He held her tight, then rolled her under him. He moved away only for a moment to remove his pajama pants and her panties, and to reach for a condom.

He entered her in one long stroke. His hands came under her bottom, angling her hips to take him as deeply as she could. She shuddered with the feeling of fullness, of being absolutely whole.

He began moving in long, strong strokes, his mouth capturing hers in a hot, carnal kiss. His control was precarious; she could feel the tension rising in him. It filled her with power to know she was the cause of that.

It was her last truly aware thought as she lost herself to feeling. He seemed to know she was going to come before she did; he sped his movement up just enough, angled her just the right way to cause the waves of her orgasm to hit. She clung to him, and cried out, shaking, until she was limp.

He waited until she came back to him before beginning to move again. He kissed her, moved his lips over to the side of her neck, then by her ear. "Come on, sweetheart, move with me," he coaxed. "Just one more time."

The stirrings of another climax was beginning. She arched her hips against him, and moaned. She slid her hands up his back, holding him closer to her.

It was enough to perish any more control. He plunged in and out of her, harder and faster with one thought in his mind: to make her his. When she cried out under him, he lost himself to sensation, pure bliss buzzing throughout his body. He held on tightly, pressing deep within her, as he joined her in release.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

_AN: Thanks for the reviews! They make me very happy, and keep me typing....._

Derek didn't know if he ever felt better in his life than he did at that moment. He was laying naked in bed with his baby girl. She was draped on him, her arm and her leg over the top of him. Last night, he did something he rarely ever did after they made love; he passed out. It was that good. He didn't feel too guilty about it, however. She was out cold, too.

He woke up in the middle of the night to cover them up. The days were incredible, but the nighttimes in the Napa Valley were sometimes chilly. She snuggled next to him, murmured a sigh of contentment, fell asleep, and was still sleeping now.

Now that he was awake, he was watching her, wondering what she was going to say and do when she woke up. He tried to come up with every scenario. Quite a few things crossed his mind. He decided review them, attacking the most unpleasant ones first.

If she woke up and said, "Hot stuff, this was a mistake," he was going to tie her to the bed and make love to her every minute of the day until she admitted that yes, it was most definitely _not_ a mistake.

Then he'd make love to her one more time for good measure.

If she woke up and said this wasn't a mistake, but she didn't know how it happened, he'd tell her the flat out truth. He always wanted her. That was a definite fact. He wanted her so badly for the past three years, it was driving him slowly insane. Flirting brought him some sanity, kept the flame of hope alive, but he truly needed this to happen for an extremely long time.

Then he'd make love to her, just to prove it.

If she woke up and said she was ready to have a full fledged affair with him, that he rocked her world and she wanted to fuck like a rabbit with him every minute of the day, he would tell her, "Thank you", first. That would be a huge compliment and he'd enjoy doing that with her, too. However, then he would do whatever it took to make her fall in love with him at least half as much as he loved her.

Then he would make love to her, to try to show her the huge difference between that and sex.

He didn't consider the last possibility, that she might wake up and say she was in love with him. He knew enough from all the negative signals she was throwing him the last couple of days, from the way she tried to get out of him going in the first place to her comment in the grape field about his heartfelt kiss, that her loving him was simply not the truth. If anything, Derek considered himself a realist.

However, he did have a lot of hope after the last two days. She seemed to really enjoy being with him, and she obviously felt he was a good friend. Now, he knew what he always thought was true; the chemistry between them was explosive. It was the best sex, the first real lovemaking, he ever had in his life. He have to show her being with him, being his lover, was at least worth a chance.

Then he'd make love to her again, to show her that friends don't usually do this together with as much success as they were having.

Anyway about it, he was set to have the time of his life the next few days in the Napa Valley. He had five more days to convince her; they were making great progress, considering it was just two days! He was going to do whatever it took to make his baby girl love him, and maybe even get her to consider keeping the ring he bought for her.

* * *

　  
Penelope woke up, sated and happy from making passionate love with Derek. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of her life. She rolled on her side and was a little surprised when she looked. The bed next to her was empty. She wasn't worried; he must've stepped out for something.

She stretched, feeling muscles she hadn't used in a long time ache. She smiled; it was a pleasant ache, an awakening in her body. She got up and walked towards the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and blushed. She had kiss bruised lips, her neck had whisker marks; she looked thouroughly wanton.

He wasn't back yet. She decided to shower and put some lotion on. She giggled; they'd both smell like vanilla pear today. She put on her clothes, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

He still wasn't back. She started to get a little worried. She thought that maybe he was hungry and went down already. They did a lot of activity last night; he had reason to be hungry!

All the same, she grabbed her room key, stepped out, and met him in the hallway. He was carrying two lattes.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said. "You're up. I thought I'd surprise you with good coffee. I wanted to get back before you got up, but the line was really long and-"

She smiled. He was babbling. Derek _never_ babbled. He was always calm and cool. He was nervous like she was, it made her heart warm. Poor sweet baby; he was feeling awkward right now.

She knew the best thing to do would be to just not mention what happened last night. It was too early to talk about everything. Maybe tonight they'd discuss it. Right now, she was going to be just like normal.

"Thanks, honey." She took the coffee and smiled. "We have brunch and then another excursion. Ready to go?"

He looked at her blankly. He didn't speak for about ten seconds, then he answered, "Yeah….I guess."

They walked down the hallway together and entered the elevator. She thought it was odd. She was talking to him like she always did, about what the weather was like, what they were supposed to be eating this morning, but he didn't answer. He was a morning person, he was always chatty.

It was fine, really. He needed to see it was fine, everything between them was going to be okay. They could make love again, and things still would be fine. She felt that good about everything. No reason at all to feel awkward.

About three floors down, Derek took her coffee from her.

"One minute," he said, putting both coffees on the ground.

"What?" she said, looking at him, a little confused.

He looked at her for one second, then shoved her against the elevator wall. She gasped in surprise before his mouth covered hers. He kissed her, his mouth working magic and demanding response. He kissed her until her knees were weak, but that didn't stop him. He put his thigh between hers, holding her up, and continued to kiss her.

He kissed her and kissed her.

Then he kissed her some more for good measure.

Finally, they reached the lobby. The elevator door opened. He kissed her for awhile still, then he pulled away from her. He picked up the coffee, handed her hers, and walked out the door, past two other gawking, extremely interested couples.

Penelope held onto the elevator rail, slumped against the wall, and went for a ride with them, just to get her bearings.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_AN: Sorry, I am behind answering reviews. Will soon! Update first; answer second!_

Derek was never so furious in his entire life. He expected her to say something, he prepared himself for anything, but when she said _nothing... That_ was fucking insulting. She wanted to pretend he didn't make love to her, that she didn't come all over his dick, that she didn't pass out and lay in his arms the whole night. That wasn't gonna fly with him.

He put an end to her thinking they could forget it immediately in the elevator, once he got over the shock of the whole damn thing.

To top insult with injury, his beautiful faux fiancée didn't even have the balls to come down and have breakfast with him. He left her in the elevator, expecting her to come out and say something,_ anything_, to him, and instead she took off.

He never would've expected that his baby girl was a coward.  
　  
He stabbed the stupid piece of Canadian bacon on his plate, not at all interested in the damn brunch he had. No one even sat with him. A few people stopped by, but saw what a foul mood he was in and ran the other way.

He was ready to leave, to go workout in the gym before he really did some damage, when Bridget sat across from him.

"Hey, handsome," she said, a pout on her beautiful face. "What is the problem?"

"Lady, I am not in the mood for this today, so if you don't mind," he said, letting his voice trail off as he stood up.

She stood too, staring at him gleefully. "I knew you wouldn't be satisfied with her. I knew it!"

That was the last straw. He glared at her. "You think I'm not _satisfied_ with her? Are you really that stupid? Anyone with half a brain can see I'm in love with her. I've always been in love with her."

He turned and started to walk out, but she followed him. She ran to stand in front of him.

"If you're so in love with her, what's the problem then?" She laughed. "I don't believe it. Someone like you, in love with her."

He stopped and looked at her. He considered walking around her, but something in him couldn't do it. It hit him then, exactly what the awful truth was. It ate at his gut, knocked the air right out of him. He had to say it outloud to someone. It might as well start with this witch.

"Yeah. I'm so in love with her, it hurts." He just shrugged. "Problem is, she doesn't love me."

He left her then, standing there speechless.

* * *

Penelope was looking for Derek all throughout the dining hall. She had to say she was sorry, that she was nervous and afraid and didn't know what to say when she saw him. She thought he was nervous, too. She thought she was doing the right thing.

She wanted to tell him the truth. She loved making love with him. She wanted to tell him that she'd like to try that again. Over and over with him, for the rest of their lives, if he would be willing.

She wanted to tell him she loved him. Not pretend love for a fake engagement, not just best friend love, although she did love him that way, too. She loved him for the man he was, and for what she was around him.

She wanted him to know she was in love with him, and was willing to give any relationship he wanted to have with her a shot.

She looked around. She couldn't say any of that unless she could find him.

"He's in the gym," Bubba said, eating a bite of pancakes. "But if I were you, I'd go there naked to make it up to him."

She blinked.

Molly, Bubba's wife, nodded. "Man has a point. He was in a temper when he left, poor sweetheart that he is." She glared at Penelope, and ate piece of sausage.

Penelope blinked again. "But-"

"Why that man, that damn good man, thinks that you don't love him, when he is so in love with you…" Molly stopped, and shook her head.

"Bends over backwards for you, stares at you every second you're apart, then he tells Bridget he's so in love, it hurts," Bubba scoffed. "It's embarrassing to listen to, and I'm not the man saying it."

"Oh, Derek," she said, her heart aching. She was so wrong about him. She had to find him.

"Find a way to get him out of his temper and let him know you love him, girl," Bubba said. "Otherwise you are no longer the smart cousin around here."

Penelope ran down into the gym. There was no one else in the little one room workout center. She was glad; if she had to do what Bubba suggested, she would, and having no people there would make it easier!

She found him on the treadmill, running like a bat out of hell. He had his shirt off, and he was sweating like a horse. He had his jeans on. She supposed he wasn't really dressed for working out this morning when he left.

She went and stood by him. "Hi."

He glared at her. "Give me… fifteen… more.." He shook his head and turned the rabid pace he was running back down to a more reasonable jog. He started again. "Give me fifteen fucking minutes more, and I will be ready to play your doting fiancé again."

"Okay," she said, standing in front of him. "You jog; I'll talk."

"I'd prefer fifteen minutes alone," he said.

She ignored him. "I want to tell you I am sorry for what I didn't say this morning."

"Just get out, P." He said, turning the machine back up. "I don't need this."

"I love you, Derek. I was scared to death because I didn't think you loved me. I was stupid and insecure and I don't deserve a second chance or even a first chance with you." She smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. "Anyway, I just thought you deserved to know."

He turned the machine down to a walk. "Say that again?"

"I love you," she said. "I think I've always loved you. I just never thought I stood a snowball's chance in hell of you ever loving me back."

He grinned, a big beaming Derek Morgan grin. "Oh, I love you back. Don't worry about that."

"And I should've told you last night and this morning," she smiled, and leaned closer over the top of the treadmill. "You rocked my world."

"I had plans for before the coffee this morning," he said with a wicked grin. "And after the coffee, too."

"Damn," she said with a wistful smile. "Note to self: stay in bed."

He laughed and nodded, finally shutting the treadmill off. He pulled her into his sweaty embrace, and she kissed him with all the passion she had inside of her. They were both panting when they pulled apart.

She smiled. "Ready to go play my doting fiance again?"

"No," he said, grabbing a towel and drying off, before pulling his shirt on.

She frowned, confused. "Why?"

"Don't want to play at it anymore. I don't want to lie to these fantastic people, bar two of them, anymore."

She sighed. "Okay, honey. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, you don't-"

"I don't want to play because I want it to be real. I've loved you forever, you've loved me forever, and I got the ring." First, he had a teasing smirk. That quickly changed into soft, sincere smile. "You know it as much as I do; you belong with me, baby girl."

"Wow," she said, absolutely shell-shocked.

"You don't have to say yes right away," he said, looking a little nervous. " Just think about it and-"

"Yes," she said quickly, smiling. "Damn, give a girl two seconds to let things soak in, Derek!"

He laughed, and pulled her into his arms. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Let's go get something to eat."

She giggled. It was such a man thing to say after something so profound. "Alright, sweetheart. Anything you want."

And they walked hand in hand to the dining room, knowing they really held each other's heart.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_AN: Dear readers: The croquet match is similar to a different sort of match in a story called "The Viscount Who Loves Me." I read this story many years ago; parts of it must've really stuck with me! I did not intend on copyright infringement; however, I do wish to give that author credit for sparking an idea in me._

Cousin Molly was the first person to comment when they entered the dining room. "Ah! Lovebirds made up. Good!"

"Did you follow my advice?" Bubba said, winking at Penelope. She turned slightly pink.

That made Derek very curious. "What advice?"

He looked over at Penelope, who was blushing profusely now.

He shook his head. "Damn. Gave in too easy, didn't I?"

Bubba laughed. "Yes, son, you did."

Molly socked him in the arm. "Nonsense. Quit teasing the boy." This time she winked at Penelope. "If she'd followed the advice, we never would've seen them today."

He was still looking at Penelope, who still had the softest, sweetest, _pinkest_ cheeks in the world.

"Oh, hell, no," Derek said, looking seriously irritated. "Now I _know_ I gave in too easy."

Penelope wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick kiss. "I will make it up to you, I promise."

He wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on her bottom. He smiled begrudgingly at her. "Depends on what you do… sounds like I really missed out."

"If you consider her apologizing naked missing out," Bubba added, standing up from their table. "Then, yeah, you missed out."

Penelope closed her eyes and hung her head; she didn't even want to see Derek's reaction. "Thanks, Bubba," she muttered.

"Don't mention it, sweetheart." Bubba was definitely a man's man.

"Hey," Molly said, before they left. "You joining the family outing today?"

Derek grinned. "Hey, is it family boxing? I'd love to challenge a certain guy to a boxing match."

Everyone knew exactly whom Derek was referring to.

Molly burst out laughing. "Good heavens, no! It's croquet."

Derek shook his head. "Never played before."

"Doesn't take a rocket scientist," Bubba said. "Whack the ball with the damn mallet and have a blast."

Penelope smiled at him. "It's so much fun."

"You want to do it, baby?" He asked. She nodded at him. "Then I'm in."

* * *

"Girls against guys!" Molly hollered out.

"Of course," Bubba said. "Like we'd do it any other way."

Derek's team consisted of cousin Andrew, cousin Chad, cousin Amelia's fiancé, Martin, cousin Matt, Brock the fucker, and himself. They played against their respective spouses, fiancées or girlfriends.

"Time to mallet up!" Uncle Irwin announced.

Derek questioned, "They're all the same, right?"

"Oh no they're not," Brock added. "The one you took is an effeminate mallet." He gestured over to Penelope. "Right, gorgeous?"

"Two quick things," Derek said, glaring at Brock. "One, mallets do not have sexual characteristics. And two, hit on my fiancee one more time, in a joking way or not, and you will shit this mallet out in a couple of days."

Brock turned a shade of white and walked away.

Penelope snickered, and looked a little embarrassed. "Sweetie, that was pretty-"

He pulled her into his arms and kissed the hell out of her, right in front of everyone. There were a few catcalls and wolf whistles, but he didn't care. She was his, he was tired of that fucker sniffing around, he was claiming her, period, end of story.

When he lifted his head, he looked into her dazed, heavily lidded eyes and felt her sagging against him. He grinned wolfishly at her and said only one word, "Mine."

"Mmm hmm," she said, nodding a little. "Yours."

He released her. "Let's play croquet."

* * *

Derek fell behind the rest of the team. Penelope was no help; she played against him competitively. He was finally able to catch up to less than ten feet from Penelope. He learned that he was hitting the ball far too hard. Croquet was killer, but he needed to use a gentle touch. He hit his green ball and it landed within five feet of Penelope's.

"Good job, baby!" Penelope said, cheering for him. He didn't believe she meant it.

Penelope went next and hit a good ball. Then it was Brock's turn, then Bridget, going through everyone until cousin Amanda went. She smacked her ball into Derek's. It rolled and landed directly against Penelope's ball.

"Oh shit," Amanda said. "Pen, I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry."

Penelope gulped. "Oh, Derek, sweet cheeks. You really, really don't want to do that."

Derek already had his foot on top of his ball. "Yes, angel. Yes, I do."

He wound the mallet back.

"I will do anything you want!" she shouted. "Anything. For an entire month. Just please, please don't send my ball flying."

He gave pause, and cocked a brow. "Anything?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"Add anytime, anyplace," he said with the wickedest smirk she ever saw on his face. "And you got yourself a deal."

He saw her hesitate, so he raised the mallet again.

"Deal!"

Derek still knocked her ball a decent distance, but he didn't send it into Timbuktu like he could've. He looked over at her. "Starts immediately after this game, woman." He walked closer to her and said in a low, quiet tone. "After this, prepare to be illegal."

She blinked and looked a little worried, as most sane women would be.

He smiled and walked away.

The game ended up with the women beating the men. It was a very close game. Brock was being pissy about it. "If he would've launched my dear cousin Penelope's ball when he had the chance, we would've won."

"With the deal he got out of her," cousin Andrew said, "I wouldn't have launched that ball either." He winked over at Derek, "Good job, there, my boy!"

"Speaking of that… Pen!" he said, shouting out the last word.

She was hiding in the passel of women.

"What?" she said quietly.

"Now, honey. Let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_AN: Off most of the day, so this is coming early. Warning: Stong sexual content..._

Penelope was starting to worry a bit more, but there was a bigger amount of excitement coursing through her. She wondered what illegal things he'd think of. She assumed it would be a lot of _public nudity_. Or _lewd and licentious _conduct.

He stopped to speak to the hotel clerk, who smiled at them and nodded. She didn't know what that was all about. She was starting to get nervous again.

"First of all," he said, looking into her eyes. They were walking rather quickly down the hallway towards their suite. "Lose the scared look. Trust me."

"What are we going to do?"

"No, honey," he said, opening the door to the suite. "The correct question is, what are _you_ going to do."

He walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm going to relax here for awhile. You, on the other hand, are going to get naked."

"Now?" she squeaked. "It's four in the afternoon!"

"Anytime, anyplace, honey," he said, unnecessarily reminding her.

Stripping naked in broad daylight did not sound fun to her at all. Still, a deal was a deal. She pulled her shirt over her head quickly, then glanced over at him. She smiled when she saw immediate heat rise in his eyes.

_Hey_, she thought. _This could be a lot of fun._

She stayed looking directly at him and licked her lips just a touch. She slid her shorts down her legs, pausing for a second to kick them aside. Now, his eyes were glittering, and were closed just a little bit more than before. This was obviously turning him on. She decided to really go for it.

Thinking of every movie she ever saw where the sexiest woman undressed, she reached up and removed her hair clip. She closed her eyes and shook her head a little, to let her golden curls fall over her shoulders, then she met his eyes again.

Originally, he was leaning back, resting on his elbows. He was sitting straight up on the edge of the bed now. She had a very captive audience, and it filled her with power.

She smiled at him a coy little smile, and reached behind herself to unfasten her bra. She removed one strap, then the other, holding the cups in place the whole time. Then she let the bra drop, with her hands still covering her breasts.

He groaned. She almost giggled when she heard that.

"The rest, honey?" she said, with feigned innocence. "Or do you want to do it?"

"Oh, God, yes," he said, moving quickly. He slid off the bed to his knees in front of her, hooked his fingers in the sides of her panties, and removed them in one sweeping movement.

He brought his hands around then to cup her bare bottom. He pulled her closer, causing her to take a step apart. He leaned forward and his warm tongue licked at her thigh. She started shaking; she had to fight hard not to collapse.

She felt his warm breath on her inner thigh, then on her silken curls before she felt the first stroke of his tongue. Pleasure, fast and furious, ripped through her body. Her knees grew weaker, but his strong hands held her up.

His tongue teased her, licking and stroking against her clit. It wasn't enough. She needed…oh how she needed.

"Oh, please," she moaned, her hands gripping his shoulders to steady herself. He slipped a finger deep inside her, and began to suck in earnest.

She simply exploded. There was no other word for it. His finger stroked and his mouth played in continuous rhythm to her spasms. It went on and on. If not for the strength of his hand on her bottom, she would not have remained standing.

Finally, she stopped shuddering. After, he stood, both hands sliding up her body around her back. He leaned down a gave her a quick kiss, then released her.

He reached for one of the hotel robes and tossed it to her. "Put this on."

She looked at him, utterly confused. "What?"

He grinned. "We're going swimming."

* * *

Penelope couldn't believe she was walking down the hall of the resort, naked except for a robe. Derek was dressed the same way, down to the bare feet. It was damn silly. If someone popped out their room, she would lay down and die.

No, she would make sure her robe was closed, and then she'd lay down and die.

Derek lead her to the back stairs. It was a fire escape, no one went up and down there. Derek had a little key, she was sure he got it from that desk clerk. He had this planned the whole time.

"Derek," she said. "We can't swim naked. There are children here!"

"Anyplace, sweetheart," he said, but she could hear the teasing in his voice. The man had something planned.

They walked out the door into the early evening Napa air. The day was warm, so the evening was still perfect temperature. It would get cold, but not until later. The pool was surrounded by a wrought iron privacy fence covered in grape vines. It was like an ancient Roman bath, or a pool the gods would frolic in.

She opened the gate. There was no one in the pool. Usually it was very busy. Not today. Then she saw the sign. _Closed until seven PM for cleaning._

That desk clerk again. She was sure of it. "How much did you pay him?" she asked.

"A lot less than you would think," he said with a grin. He reached into the pocket of his robe to take out a condom. "The man was a true romantic."

"Derek, you don't need that anymore."

He looked at her for a moment, confused. He'd always used a condom; it was second nature to him.

She stood close to him and dropped her robe, then unbelted his and shoved it to the ground. "We're engaged, I'm on the pill. I think you can forgo that, if you want to."

He beamed at her. "I think I need to cool down for a moment, sweetheart." He took a few steps and dove into the pool.

She went to the marble steps and started to slowly walk into the pool. The water was cooler than the air temp, she started to shiver once she the water hit her knees. Her nipples started to harden.

Derek swam over, then stood, reaching for her hand. "Cold, honey? I'll warm you up."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The cool water on his body didn't matter, he did indeed warm her up. She pressed herself against him, feeling the heat of his erection pressing against her belly. He pulled her into deeper water with him, never breaking their kiss.

She felt weightless, buoyant, free. She stood on her tiptoes, en pointe like a ballerina, pressing her hips into his.

"God, Penelope," he whispered, as he instinctively rocked his hips against hers to press closer.

She didn't need any further encouragement. She held his shoulders, raised her legs around his waist. He held her bottom, and he guided her as she sank onto him.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him deep and still within her. It felt so good, her limbs were vibrating. She felt him panting against her shoulder, his breath coming in deep, shuddering gasps.

She was ready to move. She started raising herself up and down, pressing his shoulders, arching her hips against his. She gloried in the movements, his length and thickness filling her with each slide.

His hands tightened on her bottom and he began to move her faster, harder. She was equaling the intensity, meeting each thrust with a thrust of her own. She began coming again with pleasure and completion.

He held her still for a moment, she could feel the tension of him within her. He lost whatever battle he was fighting. He moved her against the pool wall and thrust hard and fast into her, before losing himself in a heated rush of ecstasy.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

_AN: Sorry I am a touch slow on updates. Not been feeling 100%, but getting better!...._

They played in the pool a little bit, before coming out to rest on the deck, letting the cool afternoon sun dry them off.

He was laying flat on his back, his arms behind his head, on one of the huge complimentary pool towels. She tried to wrap up in one of those towels, but he kept unwrapping her. She finally gave up fighting him and was laying on her tummy, propped on her elbow, looking at him.

"I could easily join a nudist colony," he said. "This is the life."

She smiled. She thought she could easily watch him at that nudist colony, it would be a fine sight. She'd have to find a good place to hide there, though. She wasn't born completely shameless like he was.

"Second thought, I better not," he said, rolling on his side to look at her. "With you around naked too, I wouldn't be able to pretend to be disinterested like I do now…"

She couldn't help but laugh. Even with clothes on, the hot looks he shot her showed he was anything but disinterested. She was learning all the things she thought was teasing wasn't teasing at all.

Being with him these past three days was doing something wonderful to her. She never considered herself someone who lacked self-esteem. She knew she was smart, pretty, even somewhat sexy. But she never thought she was anything like how Derek saw her, like she was the most desirable woman on the planet.

And the best thing was: she believed him.

She used to think she wasn't the girl men saw across smoky bars and wrote songs about. She knew Derek was composing his own love ballads, just by the look in his eyes.

Derek and Penelope snuck back up the stairs, giggling like kids. When they hit their room, they showered together, which lead to making love yet again. They were standing in the shower, leaning against the tile wall, exhausted.

"I need a nap," he said, lifting his wet head from the crook of her neck. "Seriously."

She started to snicker.

"Hey." He scowled. "You wore me out today."

"Poor baby," she said, stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel, then handing him one. She shouldn't have laughed; she felt like a wet noodle.

They wandered over to the bed and crawled in. Within a second, he was dragging her over to lay on him. She smiled. She thought of two days ago, climbing in a million miles apart, and what a huge difference it was now. They snuggled together and fell asleep.

* * *

Derek woke to the ringing of the phone. His baby girl was still sleeping, her cheek on his chest, her hand low on his tummy. He couldn't help but smile, she looked so cute and peaceful when she was sleeping.

He reached over and grabbed the phone. "Morgan," he said, before he smirked to himself. He answered it like he was at work. Old habits die hard.

"Cousin Derek!" The not so dulcet tones of Bubba rang out over the phone. "Come down here and play some pool."

"Bubba, you know I love you, but I am turning you down flat."

"You got the rest of your life to lay in bed with that cousin of mine," Bubba said, disgruntled. "Get your ass out of bed and get ready to shoot."

He knew Penelope was awake now; her hand slid down and was starting to stroke him. It only took seconds before he was hard and wanting her.

He looked down into her eyes and kissed her quickly, before answering her cousin. "Not on your life, man. Goodbye."

He hung up the phone.

Penelope smiled up at him. "I'm more convincing, aren't I?"

"Like you had any doubt," he said, before pulling her on top of him and kissing her.

* * *

A long while later, Penelope was relaxing again in Derek's arms. She was drawing patterns with her index finger on his chest, and frowning a little.

"Okay, if that didn't make you happy, I'm completely at a loss," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I, for one, am happy as a lark."

"No, honey, of course I'm happy with that," she said, smiling up at him. "I just feel kind of bad for cousin Bubba now…"

Both eyebrows raised in a surprised look. "You want to go play pool?"

"No, actually I suck at pool," she said. "But Bubba is good and needs someone to be his teammate."

"You really want to do this?" he said.

"Well, sweet cheeks, I think that we can help out, and now that we're relatively sated-"

"Speak for yourself."

He got a dirty look for that.

"Okay," he said, releasing her and rolling over. He stood up and started getting dressed. "I can help cousin Bubba."

"Thanks, angel fish!"

* * *

Penelope was feeling less guilty about wanting to just stay in bed with Derek for the rest of the trip. Pool was yet another big thing for the Carsons, her mother would be rolling over in her grave if she knew Penelope didn't let a good player participate. Bubba was a good player, and would need a good teammate.

She didn't know if Derek could play or not, but she assumed that he probably could. He was the kind that mastered just about anything he wanted to. He had a knack for things that were physical.

She started blushing thinking about a certain physical thing he really excelled at.

"Woman, keep that look up and we're going back to the room, family tradition be damned," he said, his arm around her waist, leading her out of the elevator.

Once they entered the bar, they could hear the music playing.

_Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegria cosa Buena, dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena..... Hey Macarena! Ai yi!_

Derek smirked over at her. "You dance to this shit?"

"Not if I can help it!" she said.

She spoke too soon. Her thirteen year old cousin Bea came over. "Oh my God, Penelope! You so have to do this!"

The girl grabbed her hand and started to pull.

Penelope looked at Derek for help. He just shrugged and put his hands out in a gesture of defeat. His eyes were twinkling; he was enjoying this.

She glared at him.

He just laughed at her.

He kicked back with a beer. He was watching his girl shake it with the rest of the Macarena line dancers, and hell, yes, could she shake it... when Bubba clapped a hand on his shoulder. The man was grinning ear to ear at him.

"Cuz!" he exclaimed. "You play?"

He couldn't let the big beaming guy down. "Yeah, I play. Chalk me up."

It ended up being a pretty intense match. Bubba, who called himself "the hustler" during the game, was a very good pool player. Derek was okay, but he had a lot to learn from Bubba. They were partners, the other teams consisted of a lot of other people.

Brock and Nathan were another pair. Nathan was the boyfriend of cousin Lydia. He was a boy toy; Lydia was in her early forties, Nathan was barely twenty-five. He was kind of irritating, but nothing like Brock.

And could that kid shoot pool! Derek was amazed. He was nearly as good as Bubba.

The championship round ended up being Nathan versus Bubba, really, but Brock took it up personally with Derek. Not that Derek cared what Brock thought. It didn't matter; he kept Penelope away from him the majority of the time. He could go back to his sleaze of a girlfriend and crawl into the hole he came from any time, and the majority of the family would be grateful.

* * *

Penelope was on the sidelines, watching the game. Bridget sauntered over and sat next to her. "I know there is something not right with your relationship, cousin dear."

Penelope didn't even bother to look at her. "I love him, he loves me. Nothing wrong there that I can tell."

"You bitch!" Bridget spat.

Penelope turned to look at her then. She had never seen Bridget so hostile before.

"You always had everything. Everyone thought you were the smart one, the funny one, the one who cared about everyone." Bridget was nearly in tears, she was so furious. "Why are you so damn golden, Penelope?"

Penelope shook her head. She didn't understand. "I'm not. I had-"

"Oh yes, you were the fucking favorite," she said. "Everyone loved you. I'd wear the pretty dress, but you'd get the compliments, you-"

"Bridget, shut up," Penelope said, glaring at her. "Whatever reason you are harboring hate for me should've died years ago. You were never competition to me. All I wanted was a cousin!"

Penelope stood up and said sadly, "And now I just want you to leave me the hell alone."

She left Bridget gaping there.  
　

* * *

　  
　  
The game was good. Brock was a better player than Derek thought he was. Nathan was good, but he was no Bubba. The final shot was Bubba's. He sank it with no stress and everyone cheered. Even Nathan congratulated them on a damn good game.

The only one who didn't was Brock. He was glaring at Derek with such hatred and ice cold fury, the hairs on the back of Derek's neck stood up. The man wanted to kill him. Not figuratively either.

For the first time since they arrived in Napa, Derek now considered Brock a serious threat.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_AN: This is massive, folks, but important. Still not quite well, but I will try to get at least one a day out. Thank you for the reviews! It is amazing and humbling to know this is going over so well....PS. I don't know how to do a trademark stamp, but there would be one by Monopoly and Sorry! if I did!..._

This morning's itinerary mentioned at brunch did not really appeal to Penelope. It started with shuffleboard, which even if they wanted to play it, they were too late for anyway. It was nearly eleven by the time they rolled out of bed and came downstairs.

Penelope's cousins were giving her knowing looks. She couldn't help but blush; she glowed quite obviously from her booming sex life. She was even a little sore in certain spots, not that she was complaining. She would have to take Derek up on the hot tub idea tonight.

Today was game day. It was raining in Napa, something that usually didn't last very long. However, it was pouring out. The regular outing was canceled. She frowned, looking out the window. It was supposed to be softball today. That would've been more fun.

She was set to play Dominoes with Derek and a few other people, when Bubba came over. "Hey! We need you two to play Monopoly with us. We got four, we need two more to make it interesting."

"I'll play," Jamie said, bouncing up from the game of Sorry! he was playing with Bea and the girls.

"What do you say, cuz?" Bubba asked, looking at Derek.

"Nah," he answered. "I'm sticking with P today."

"Okay," Bubba replied, and then said loudly under his breath, "Chicken."

Derek laughed. It was a dirty trick; he wasn't going to fall for it.

Jamie looked really disappointedly at Derek. The kid obviously thought Derek hung the moon, and the fact that Derek let Bubba best him wasn't sitting well with him.

Penelope leaned closer to him. "Baby, if you play, it's going to be all day. Just warning you."

Derek arched a brow. "They're that serious about this?"

She looked somberly at Derek. "Carsons are serious about every game."

He laughed. "I see that!"

Jamie shot him another eager look, and Derek looked at Penelope. "I'll bow out, Princess. I'll lose purposefully in the middle to get out of it."

"Okay…" she said, letting her voice trail off. She obviously didn't believe him.

* * *

Four hours, fifteen minutes later, he would have to admit Penelope was right. He was stuck in the middle of the most cutthroat game of Monopoly he ever played in his life.

"Ha! Baltic with a hotel, cuz! Give up your go money," Bubba said gleefully, throwing his head back and laughing like a pirate.

Derek was scowling. He needed that go money in order to get the next house on St. James' Place. He was going to win this game from that smug bastard if it killed him.

Bubba was a vicious, foul Monopoly fiend. He made Donald Trump look kind and gentle in real estate. He was out for blood. It didn't matter who's ass he kicked, he was going to win it all. He bankrupted Jamie and sent poor cousin Matthew to the poor house without a second glance. Derek was trying to vindicate them.... that was his excuse for staying in.

An hour later, Derek was still surviving. He had two monopolies, the golds and the light blues. He dreaded going around the corner by the policeman saying "Go to Jail." That section of the board was deadly for him. He was headed there now.

He rolled and landed on Short Line railroad. He owned all four railroads. He grinned evilly at Bubba, who scowled at him.

"Lucky shot, kid."

* * *

Penelope was reading a book and watching the game. She had finished with Dominoes a long time ago. She was going to rub it in how he got suckered into the game later. As for now, it was kind of nice relaxing, just knowing he was nearby.

It was amazing how she felt now. Four days ago, Derek was a huge part of her life, but now, he _was_ her life. She couldn't imagine life without him. She didn't like being more than twenty feet away. He was integral to her happiness.

_You belong with me, Baby Girl_, he said that just two days ago. It never rang so true as it did now.

She thought about what the team was going to think when they made it back. She couldn't hide this; she didn't want to. They would just have to pull everyone aside and tell them what happened and hope for the best. She was sure everyone would be ecstatic for them.

JJ even mentioned it years ago to her. "Aren't you and Morgan ever going to go out? You two are always touching, always flirting."

"He's just a friend."

"No, Penelope," she said, shaking her head emphatically. "There's more there."

Penelope sighed. She was having crow fricassee when she got back!

The need to go potty hit. She stood up, put the bookmark in the book, and headed out of the room. When she exited the bathroom, Brock was standing there.

"Hello, cousin dear," he said, leering at her breasts. He always addressed her cleavage. She wanted to put a dickey on every time he was around, just for extra coverage. He stood directly in her way.

"Brock, excuse me," she said, sliding around him.

"Not so fast, pretty girl." He grabbed her by the waist. "I want you, you know."

"I don't want anything to do with you," she said, glaring up at him. "Both you and your girlfriend need to leave me alone."

"Or what?" he sneered. "Going to call that bastard you're engaged to over?"

She stiffened at the insult to Derek, then she smiled coldly. "Yeah. I will."

"Not if I find a way to keep you quiet," he said, malice rising in his voice. Then he changed to deep seduction, and gripped her waist tighter. "I think you'd like the ways I could do that. I'm more inventive than him, I assure-"

Penelope had enough. With the heel of her shoe, she slammed her foot down on his toe. He released her immediately with a yelp, and she ran back into the reception hall.

Derek looked up at her. Originally he smiled, but then concern marred his brow. She forced herself to smile back, and return to her book. 　

* * *

　  
Sitting naked in a whirlpool bathtub, facing an equally naked Derek Morgan was a delightful thing.

It was a oblong whirlpool with bench seats on both sides. Derek had been begging to get in it since the first night they were there. He mentioned it a lot, but they never had time. Tonight, after the game, they decided to forgo the dancing downstairs and just relax.

He grabbed the ice bucket the minute he walked in the room, ran down the hall, and was back again within minutes. He plopped the wine bottle in the bucket, pressed the fill valves, and started the water in the tub.

"Derek," she said, sounding questioning. "It's only seven." After the game, they had a quick meal and headed upstairs right after.

"So?" he asked, pulling his shirt over his head.

She giggled. "It's kind of early."'

"Hell, no." He dropped his pants. "I've been looking forward to this for days."

It was hard to talk reasonably to him when he was nearly naked. "We're going to be all pruny."

Now he was completely naked. He walked over to the table, opened the wine, and poured two glasses. He rested those on the edge of the tub before he climbed in.

He hit the button to turn on the jets and smiled a half smile at her. "Come on, buttercup baby. I'm waiting."

She smiled back, undressed, and stepped into the bubbles. She sat directly across from him. He put his feet up on the bench next to her, straddling her hips, his knees breaking the top of the water.

"Where do my feet go?" she asked, frowning slightly in question.

He grinned wickedly.

She rolled her eyes and put them up on his thighs. "Derek, don't you ever get enough?"

An eyebrow went up. "Do you seriously want me to answer that?"

She ignored him, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the jets. She relaxed for a moment, before his feet started bumping against her hips. He wiggled his toes; he was obviously trying to get her attention.

She opened her eyes. "What, sweetheart?"

"I saw you walk out of the reception hall earlier, and Brock followed pretty closely," he said, his eyes getting deadly serious. "Anything I should know about?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. She wasn't lying. Brock did hit on her and was rather nasty, but Derek didn't have to know about it.

"Baby, are you telling me that man followed you out there and didn't say a damn word to you?"

Penelope was glad she wasn't an UNSUB. She knew exactly how they felt under Morgan's questioning. It wasn't pretty.

"Derek, it was no big deal," she said. "He hit on me; I turned him down. End of story."

His eyes narrowed, but she knew it had nothing to do with her. "It sure as hell is a big deal. I told him to lay off of you. That should be enough."

"Baby, let it be," she pleaded. "We only have two more days here. Don't let him ruin it."

"I don't trust him, P," he said, putting his feet down and leaning towards her. "Something about him bothers me; I feel it in my gut."

"He's a creep, but he's not an UNSUB." She smiled at him gently. "Do it for my family. Please, let it go."

She could tell it was taking everything in him to calm down, but he answered the way she wanted him to. "Alright, Penelope. I'll do it. For you. But if he even looks the wrong way at you, he's going to wish he was never born."

Penelope didn't doubt that he meant it. There was an underlying strength to Derek, something that was just under the surface that made him very dangerous. She knew he would protect her with his life, but she never wanted him to have to.

She needed to lighten the subject. She put her feet on the outsides of his hips. "Well, if you would've given up in Monopoly, I would've been in this whirlpool earlier with you, and never had to worry about the big bad wolf."

He started to smile again. "Oh, Goldilocks, you're still in danger from the big bad wolf. I'm planning on eating you all up."

She moved her foot to touch between his legs. "My, what big…teeth you have."

He leered back at her, "The better to eat you with, my dear."

She laughed and reached for her wine glass. He reached for her hand and pulled her into his lap, causing the water to spill over the edge of the whirlpool. He put his lips to her neck. "Too far away over there."

"I agree," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He continued to kiss her neck, moving up to her ear. He nibbled her earlobe, his tongue touching the sensitive skin behind the lobe.

She shivered. "Water's getting cold."

She felt him smile against her neck. "That has nothing to do with why you shivered and you know it."

"Still," she said, trying to stand up and move away. "We still need to use soap and get all squeaky clean and…oooh."

He pulled her back into his lap, started kissing her in earnest, and thoughts of being clean were replaced with thoughts of being very dirty instead.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_AN: Thanks as always for the reviews. Here's today's installment! PS. Thank you, Harley, for the Bat-stuff-crazy comment. LOL That will continue to be used for the rest of my days....._

The postponed softball game happened the next day. There was no official diamond at the vineyard, however, they made do with flat field nearby. Amazingly, it was not a boys versus girls thing like the rest of the events at the reunion. Pen was very happy to play; this was one physical game she was good at. She played in eighth grade all the way to eleventh. She was going to crack a big ol' homerun if she got the chance.

They had team captains. Bubba was one, Brock volunteered to be the other. Bubba immediately called Derek to his team. There was no doubt; the two men were becoming the best of friends. Bubba's sense of humor and Derek's natural charm were a beautiful match.

"Cousin Penelope," Brock called.

Bubba looked over and glared at Brock. "Hey. You don't want to be doing that, boy."

"The hell I don't, fat man," he sneered back, under his voice, just loud enough Derek and Bubba would hear it.

Bubba took a step towards Brock, but Derek held him back. "Let it go, man. Don't let him get to you. He wants to ruin this; it's not going to happen." He grinned at Bubba. "We're going to kick his ass on the field, no worries there!"

The tension was gone almost immediately. The rest of the team members were called. Pen stood on the other side and gave Derek a warm smile. She mouthed the words, _Thank_ _you_, then blew him a kiss.

The game was going along fine. Brock won the coin toss, he chose to have his team bat second. Bubba was determining batting order. "Derek... Jamie second?"

"No, first," he said. "He's fast as lightning. I'll go second, Andrew third, you cleanup."

Bubba grinned. "I like how you think."

"Why second?" Jamie asked.

Derek smirked. "I just want to hit it hard enough to get to stand at second base for awhile and still get you home."

Jamie looked over and saw where cousin Penelope was standing. He rolled his eyes. "I shoulda known."

"Didn't you get past second base a long time ago?" Andrew asked, adding to the smirking going on.

"Just this first time I want to be by her, then I'll kill the damn ball," Derek said, laughing.

"Play ball!" Molly yelled from the other team. "Stop jabbering and get to it."

Jamie went up to bat and hit a lousy fly ball right over the right fielder. Jamie was a hook, a left handed batter, most of his hits went to the right field. Cousin Bea easily caught it, leaving Jamie sulking to the sidelines.

"Hit the thing on the ground, Jamie, and run it out next time," Bubba said.

Derek was up. He cracked a decent line drive just over the shortstop's head. He rounded first and trotted over to second. "Hello, baby."

"Hi, love bug. Don't think because you're buttering me up I'll take it easy on you," she said with a devious smile. "I won't."

He gave her a quick kiss. "I would expect no less, angel."

"No fraternizing with the other team, Morgan!" Bubba boomed out across the field.

He smiled, and started to lead off a bit as Andrew stepped up to the plate. Andrew cracked a deep fly ball to left field. Derek took off like a bat out of hell and made it easily to home plate. Bubba hit a short fly out to Nathan in center field next, and Keisha, Andrew's wife, hit a grounder to third to end the inning.

Bottom of the third inning, Penelope was up to bat. She batted seventh in the line up. Bubba threw her a fast meatball, right over the plate. She swung and cracked it right over the shortstop's head. The shortstop was Derek, who looked very surprised she could hit it that well. She made it to second base, and probably would've gone farther, but she was giggling and grinning. That slowed her down.

"Been holding out on me, Baby Girl," he said with a rather impressed grin.

She just crouched over and wiggled her bottom, ready to run.

Derek couldn't help it; he kept glancing over at her round bottom in the air. She was inching her way off of second base, and she was wiggling even more. He was smiling, thinking that cute butt needed a-

"Morgan! Pay attention!" Andrew barked from over on third.

Derek actually blushed. He got caught red-handed. He hadn't blushed in _years_, but he could tell he was doing it now. His cheeks felt hot. He looked up. Penelope was grinning at him like the cat who ate the canary.

The game was tied; it was a very close match up. Derek and Penelope were having a lot of fun playing against each other. He thought of how this was an advantage, actually. Old Brock did him a favor. He teased over to his girl, "Hey, baby."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, looking questioningly. She was on second again. His princess could hit like a batting champ.

"Whoever wins this game is on top tonight."

"Derek!" she said, glancing over at Jamie. Her cheeks were bright red. "There are children present!"

He just laughed.

"Sounds like a plan," Molly said with a cackle from her place on third base. "Bubs, you hear that?"

"Don't encourage him, Molly," Penelope said, looking rather mortified.

It was the top of the ninth inning. Jamie was on first base, Derek was up to bat. Brock's team was up by one run. It was hard fought, but a very fun game so far. Even Brock was mellow and joking…. Until now.

He was glaring at Derek with that cold, furious look on his face again. The man was bat shit crazy, it was obvious he was unstable. It was good he noticed it; otherwise, he probably would've been in bigger trouble than what happened. Brock's next pitch was very fast and extremely inside. Derek tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough. The ball hit directly in the middle of his back.

"You bastard! You did that on purpose!" Bubba said from the sidelines, getting off the bench. Andrew and Jamie stood, too.

Penelope was running in from second. "Derek! Are you okay?"

"I did not!" Brock said. "It was an unlucky pitch."

Derek pulled Penelope into his arms. "Baby, I'm fine."

"Apologize to Derek, now, son," Bubba said, his Southern accent very pronounced. "Or I'll _make_ you apologize."

"I'm telling you, I-"

"Damn it! Just let it be," Derek said. "I don't want his apology; it wouldn't be sincere anyway." He kissed the top of Penelope's head, turned her, and swatted her butt. "Let's play ball."

The family reluctantly went back to playing the game. There was definite animosity from and towards Brock now in the Carson fold.

Derek got a base for the direct hit. He was on first, Jamie advanced to second. Bubba had an extremely fast pitch straight down the pike. He swung and cracked the ball way, way over the center fielder's reach. It was nearly in the next county. Jamie scored, Derek scored. Bubba, who was not fast, made it to third before he had to stop.

The rest of the line up was out, 1-2-3. Bottom of the ninth, no one was able to score. Bubba's team won, but everyone agreed it was a fantastic game. Except for Brock.

It was time to gather the equipment. Derek agreed to get the bases. He was picking up third base when Brock jogged over. Derek stood back up, but he didn't say a word.

"I don't know what lucky star you were born under, you son of a bitch, but it ends now." Brock's tone was deadly. "I'm going to win the next go 'round."

Derek just shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. "You're a sad man, Brock. Grow the hell up." Derek jogged away; he wasn't going to dignify such idiocy with more of a response.

"Whatever it takes!" Brock yelled, before roughly grabbing Bridget and dragging her away from the sidelines.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

AN: Thanks, as always for the reviews. I guess I have to put this, too: I don't own the songs; Bananarama and The Pussycat Dolls do….

Warning: strong sexual content...

After the softball game, the teams went to the reception hall for drinks and laughter. Derek was really having a great time. He found out he really loved Pen's family. They were an eclectic bunch from all around the country. The ages of everyone were very dispersed. None of the cousins were alike.

Derek didn't think any of that mattered; they were simply family to him now.

Tonight's music was club music from the 80's, 90's and today. It worked for him. It was mostly high energy beat that kept people dancing. No slow stuff this evening. After the softball game, people were still wired and ready to party.

Cousin Bea came running over the minute the music for _The Electric Slide _started. He watched Penelope cringe; she obviously didn't want to do another line dance.

"Cousin Penelope, come on!" Bea said, grabbing her hand.

"Hey," Derek said, grabbing the girl's wrist, stopping her from dragging P away.

Bea looked up him and nervously swallowed.

"Can I have this dance?" he said, bowing over Bea's hand.

"Oh, wow!" Bea said, absolutely star-struck.

He turned and winked at Penelope before he lead Bea onto the dance floor.

Penelope watched Derek dancing with little Bea, and her heart nearly melted. What he just did there to save her and to make that little girl's day just made her love him even more.

It wasn't a hardship for him to do it. Most people looked stupid line dancing, but not Derek. He was smooth. He did it in such a fashion, with so much grace and sexual energy, the other men and boys were trying to mimic his movements.

Derek made it back to the table. She put her hands on his chest. "Thanks for doing that for Bea. You were her hero, sweetie," she said, sliding her arms around his neck. "Mine, too."

He leaned down to kiss her, but it only lasted a second.

"Cuz! Darts! Come on, there's a two hundred dollar pot on the line." Bubba looked all eager.

The music changed to _Dancing Queen_. Keisha, Amanda, Carly, and a few other female cousins were waving for Penelope to join them on the dance floor.

Derek sighed, sounding a bit frustrated. "I am starting to really dislike this family's timing."

"Go, honey," she said with a giggle and a quick kiss. "Go win the pot."

She made her way to the dance floor to boogie with the girls. All the songs were fun, girl group dance songs. She was singing along while dancing with the girls, "I'm your Venus. I am your fire. True desire."

It was getting to be a lot of fun. The other women were just shaking it, so Penelope was getting into it, too. Every song called for shimmies, shakes, and hip thrusts. Each woman was trying to out-sexy the other, in a rather comical fashion.

"Ooh! I know the perfect song!" Keisha exclaimed, and ran to the DJ. The DJ smiled, and started the tune.

_I know you like me. I know you do... dontcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?_

It was the perfect song. Penelope laughed and swung her hips, punctuating the last three words with a hip bump. She looked up and noticed Derek was staring at her. He was holding his beer, grinning her way with somewhat of a leer.

She decided to play it up. She turned, looked over her shoulder at him, and shook her ass.

He shot her hot eyes and put the darts down. It was obvious he was ready to dance with her, but Bubba punched him in the shoulder and pointed at the dart board emphatically. She saw him scowl, then turn away.

Penelope giggled and continued to dance with the girls. A few of the cousins' significant others came out to the dance floor and danced with their spouses. Just Amanda, Molly, and Pen were left dancing alone.

Penelope was about ready to leave the dance floor, when an arm came around her waist. It obviously wasn't Derek's arm and the smell of alcohol wafting over her shoulder was very unpleasant.

"What kind of fool would leave you dancing alone?" Brock said, his hot breath on her ear.

"Let me go; there are a lot of people on this dance floor," she said angrily. "You do one thing, one, and I will scream."

"They'll think it's in pleasure," he said, moving his hand upward towards her breast.

"Let her go." A voice said with steely determination.

Penelope turned to see her brother Palmer glaring at Brock. She hadn't seen Palmer in a few years. He was living overseas in Hong Kong, managing a tech company. Out of all her brothers, Palmer was the one she had the most in common with.

"Who the hell are you?" Brock said, hiccupping in the middle.

"Her brother," he said, scowling at Brock. "She obviously doesn't want this. Leave her alone."

Brock let her go and stepped back. "Can't be pissing off the family now; can I, sweetheart?" He smiled nastily at Palmer before looking intently at Penelope. "Soon."

Then he walked off the dance floor and out of the hall.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That creep has been a nuisance this whole trip."

Palmer gave her a big hug. "How have you been, kiddo?"

"Good! So nice to see you," she said, smiling.

He looked at her seriously. "Last time I saw you was right after some creep shot you; now you have another man threatening you?"

"Palmer, I'm fine. Honest."

"Who is this?" Derek said, scowling a little. He stood next to Penelope, looking very serious.

"This is my brother, Palmer." She was squeezing into Derek's side now.

They shook hands, Molly and Bubba came over, then the group sat at the table together. Palmer was only in town for three days. He was the busiest person, but his heart was good. He just ran himself ragged, and had the bankroll to prove it. He was ten years older than Penelope, never married, and a workaholic.

Palmer said her oldest brother, Parker, might come. She asked if Paul or Peter were coming. "Honey, I don't know. They kind of do their own thing."

"They don't even email," she said. Palmer mirrored her look of disdain.

It was nearly the end of the evening when they finally played a slow song. Penelope was thrilled; she hadn't danced with him since she first arrived there, and wanted to do it more than anything else. Derek brought her over to the dance floor and held her in his arms.

The dance floor was crowded with couples. They were bumped and jostled, but she didn't care. It still felt fantastic, dancing with him. Too soon, it was over.

"Ready to go up?" he said, as many other couples passed them. He just stood there, holding her in the middle of the dance floor. Almost everyone was out of the room. Just the wait staff remained.

She was very reluctant to let him go. "I don't want to go," she said. "I just want to keep dancing."

After earlier tonight, she needed to dance with him. She just wanted him to hold her, sway with her, make her his. She knew dancing with Derek, she would be safe, desired, loved.

He smiled at her. "Maybe we can do that. Wait here."

She watching him run over to the head waiter. She saw the man nod in agreement before Derek came back. They were locking up for the evening.

"It's all good," he said, pulling her to the back of the room where the pool tables were.

He put some money in the jukebox in the corner and pressed some numbers. A slow song began as he walked back over and held out his arms. She smiled and moved into his arms. He moved his hands slowly down her back to her bottom, and they swayed to the music.

"Thank you," she said, moving her lips up to kiss the side of his neck. She was finally alone with him. There was always some sort of interruption, but not now. Now, he was hers. The thought sent a thrill through her.

They danced for awhile, the soft music pouring through them, each movement building anticipation. She brought her hands up to his shoulders, her fingers stroking the strong, smooth column of his neck. It felt so good, just to be with him.

He moved his hands down a little more, pressing her closer to him. She could feel the heat of him, the strength of him, guiding her movements. She was placing open kisses on his neck now, moving up to his jaw line. He growled, before kissing her lips.

The song regretfully ended. Penelope moved out of his arms and walked towards the jukebox to push in a new song. Her whole body was thrumming with want. Dancing with him was a dangerous thing. She wondered if he knew how she felt, and if it felt the same for him.

She looked over her shoulder at him. Of course he'd know how she felt. Looking at him, she knew it was reciprocal. His eyes were as hot as she knew hers were. She walked slowly, until she stood directly in front of him.

His arms enveloped her and his mouth captured hers in a hungry kiss. She reciprocated, her hands coming up to pull his mouth down harder. Tongues met, delved; they drank from each other. She needed him like she never knew she needed him before.

She pressed herself against him, her breasts aching, needing to be touched. As if he could hear their silent plea, his hands reached up and cupped the heavy fullness of her breasts. She whimpered; it just wasn't enough.

He pulled her closer, lifting her up to sit on the edge of the pool table. He stepped between her legs, pulling her closer, until his hardness pressed against her panties. He kissed her again, rocking his hips in a gentle grind.

The wait staff was obviously gone, Penelope hadn't seen anyone around for a very long time. The doors were locked. The urgency of how she needed him overrode any thoughts of being caught. She reached down between them, and unbuttoned his jeans.

He stepped back just a bit, allowing her to draw down the zipper of his jeans. Her knuckles brushed over the length of his very erect cock, and her breath came in faster pants. She moved her hand up and molded her fingers over his rigid length. She could feel the pulsing response that echoed the throbbing in her own body.

He reached for her and lifted her off the table. Her legs were weak; he balanced her against his chest. "Damn, I want you," he said, his voice rough and husky.

She leaned against him again, pressing her aching breasts into his chest. The tips were burning, needing to be caressed.

Derek turned her in his arms, her back resting against his chest. His hands slid under her shirt, up her ribcage, to her breasts. He began to knead and squeeze, his thumbs brushing over her taut nipples.

She moaned, closing her eyes, her head back against his shoulder. Her hands covered his, encouraging him to touch her more. She needed so much more.

His hands slid under her bra and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. His fingers pinched, flicked, teased the aching tips, and she gave up the battle. She moaned loudly.

He fastened his mouth on the side of her neck, while one of his hands started making the journey down her belly. His hand caught the band of her panties; with a rough tug, they fell to the ground. She hissed in pleasure when his fingers touched her between her legs. She arched against him, trying to move his fingers exactly where she needed it.

"Baby," he murmured against her neck. "You're so wet and ready for me."

She tingled in response to his words, pressing herself closer to his hand. "More, Derek… more."

"Hold on to the edge, sweetheart," he said, guiding her hands towards the pool table nearby. She leaned forward, feeling his hands on her hips, before he entered her from behind in one long stroke.

She held on tight as he began to thrust, plunging in and out, alternating slow and deep, quick and shallow. One of his arms was around her waist, holding her steady. The other reached for her breast, cupping and fondling.

"Oh, God… oh," she cried out, so close, so very close.

He reached a hand between her legs and she exploded, shaking with spasms. She leaned forward even more and felt her legs nearly giving out.

He moved her feet apart and pressed her harder against the pool table, thrusting in a rapid succession. He gripped her hips and gave one final shudder. She felt the immediate liquid heat of his release pulsing inside her.

After, he pulled her up into his arms and held her against his chest. "I love you; I need to be alone with you for awhile."

"I love you, too," she said.

"Tomorrow, just you and me, okay?" He looked so earnest, her heart melted.

"Yes."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_AN: Thanks for the reviews! Finally, some ALONE time..._

Derek awoke to the ringing of the phone again. He started to reach for it.

"Answer that, and I will shoot you," Penelope murmured, snuggling even more comfortably on his shoulder.

Derek reached for the receiver, grinned down at her, and dropped it on the floor.

She placed a kiss on his chest nearest her mouth. "Good morning, my love."

"Morning," he said, kissing the top of her head. He paused a second, before talking. "Do I really get you all to myself today?"

She giggled. "Yes."

He sat up and leaned over her a little. "Really?"

She giggled more and nodded.

"Honestly?" he said with a look of wide eyed wonder. "Truly, totally, completely alone?"

"You idiot." He was such a tease. His eyes were warm and filled with laughter.

"Amazingly," he said, leaning down to kiss her neck, "spectacularly, sexily, nakedly alone…"

She wasn't going to argue any of those points for the next few hours, at least!

* * *

After long lovemaking, and a short nap, they finally rose and walked downstairs. Derek had called the concierge the night before to ready some details for the day. Penelope knew they were leaving the resort, but she didn't really know where or what they were doing.

"Ah! Mr. Morgan," the concierge gushed. "Here are your keys, sir, and the trunk is packed according to plan."

Penelope was starting to wonder exactly how much money Derek was tipping these people. This man was nearly genuflecting at the sight of them.

"Cuz!" Bubba hollered out across the foyer of the resort. "We're doing bocce today. You coming?"

Derek turned, and with a look that brooked no argument, said, "Bubba. We are sitting this one out."

Bubba looked disappointed. "When ya'll coming back?"

"When we're damn good and ready," Derek said, wrapping his arm around Pen's waist. "I need some quality time with my girl."

"Well, shoot. Shut my mouth. I get the hint. Have a good one." Bubba laughed. "Don't do nothing I wouldn't."

"That leaves us some options," Penelope said, smiling as they walked out the door.

Once they hit the warm, sunny outdoors, Penelope saw the car they were taking. It was a Jaguar XKR convertible, a low, sexy car with all sorts of curb appeal. It was the kind of car that needed stroking and would purr nicely with the right person behind the wheel.

"Ready?" he said, opening the door with a sexy little grin.

She smiled back; she knew something else that purred with a good stroke. She slid into the car and buckled up.

With a low growl of the engine, they took off out of the resort and headed down the long roads to Highway 29, the main scenic road in Napa. It felt so good, the sun, the breeze, the light music, just relaxing.

She had to ask. "Baby, where'd you get the money for this? These are really expensive."

"One hundred eight thousand dollars."

"What!"

He was grinning big time; behind his dark sunglasses, she could see the tiny crinkles by his eyes.

"Don't sound so shocked," he said, laughing. "This is your Uncle Irwin's car. He gave me some advice and let me borrow his kitten for my kitten."

She sank back into her seat, relaxing again. "This was a good idea," she said, reaching her hand over to squeeze his knee.

"I have a few." He smiled over at her. "And the day is just starting, sweetheart."

They drove on to St. Helena, a small town just outside of Napa. There was an interesting food stand there. Penelope was hungry; they had a quick continental breakfast before leaving.

"Oooh!" she said. "Stop there!"

"What?" he said, curious.

"Fish tacos! They have those. Only California knows how to make real fish tacos." She sounded very convincing.

Derek snickered as he pulled the car in front of the little restaurant. "I am sure other places around the country would be saying they had the take on that."

"Okay, wise guy," she said, walking with him into the little restaurant. "You'll see who's right."

She ordered two fish tacos and two double fudge peanut ice cream bars. She put just a touch of hot sauce on the tacos. Then she turned to face him. "Open."

He opened his mouth and she fed him a bite of the most fantastic fish sandwich thing he ever had in his life. It was mahi-mahi, cooked perfectly, with just the right seasonings.

He bit back a moan of satisfaction and swallowed. "You're right."

She smirked with well deserved arrogance. "Never doubt a native."

He laughed. "Okay, crazy girl. Another bite."

They finished eating those before Penelope mentioned she needed to go to the bathroom.

"Sure, baby." He gave her a quick kiss. "Hurry, ice cream's melting." He watched her walk away before pulling out his cell.

"Hey, Reid," he said the moment the younger agent answered.

"Ah, Morgan! Enjoying your trip with your newly instated lady love?"

Derek gave a short laugh. "Newly instated? I've loved her forever."

Reid laughed. "That you have. _Baby Girl _this, _Baby Girl _that, on that plane for five-"

"Hey! Don't make me regret calling you for a favor, Genius."

"Just stating the obvious," he said, before finally settling down. "What do you need?"

"That guy with the football file I had you pull, Brock Douglass? Go a little farther into that for me, if you can. Something is not right," he said, seeing Penelope walk out of the bathroom. "Oh, gotta go. Text it out later."

"Will do."

A moment later they were hopping back in the car. Penelope opened the peanut fudge bar and handed it to him. He wouldn't take it.

"I'm shifting. Feed it to me."

She laughed and shook her head. He could feed himself just fine while shifting. He just liked to be fed. Not that it was a hardship to feed him at all.

She fed him the last bite of the bar. A drop of the chocolate landed on her finger and rolled down towards her hand.

"Oh, boy," she said, reaching for a napkin. She was worried about getting her uncle's expensive car dirty.

He held her hand and sucked her finger into his mouth. "Mmmm," he said, releasing her finger and licking his lips. "Now _that_ is good."

They continued to drive down the road to a very old looking sign for a winery. It didn't really look open; there were no other cars around. There was a long, slightly curving driveway leading to what appeared to be no where.

"Let's see what this baby can do," he said, hitting the pedal and downshifting, taking off like a rocket down the road. The car accelerated as it hugged the curves.

Penelope squeaked, "Derek!"

He laughed, but slowed down a bit. "Abandoned winery. No one is here. Concierge sent us here for what I wanted us to do. Hang on; we're almost there."

When they hit the final corner, there was a big weather-beaten barn and a gorgeous field of wildflowers. It was stunningly breathtaking; she was staring in awe at the landscape. The mountains were in the background, it was pristine, gorgeous. He parked the car near the edge of the field and hopped out, opening the door for Penelope.

"This, sweetheart," he said with a smile, "is the most secluded place you are going to find in the entire Napa Valley."

Now she _really_ wondered how much money Derek was throwing at the staff!

He hit the key fob and opened the trunk. Reaching in, he removed a picnic basket and a big blanket. She smiled. "Oh, sweet cheeks! How cute!"

He spread out the blanket with a flourish and Penelope kicked off her shoes and climbed on. She knelt by the basket and tried to open it, but he stopped her.

"No, no, my sweet," he said, giving her a slight admonishing look. "My treasures to give you."

She laughed and sat cross-legged on the blanket. "Okay. I'm ready."

He handed her a wine glass first, of course. She was expecting that. He popped open a bottle of Pinot Noir. It was her favorite red wine. She gave him the not-too-shabby look. He just grinned back. He pulled out dark chocolates and tossed them over to her.

"It's supposed to bring out the flavor of the wine."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Where did you learn that?"

"Concierge told me," he said, still digging in the basket. He pulled out some crackers and brie cheese, some grapes and some napkins.

She smiled. That looked like everything they could need.

He reached in a different compartment and retrieved two beautiful red roses. "For you."

"Awwww," she said, her eyes watering. He was good. He was really good.

"For me," he said, reaching and withdrawing two more roses. He crushed the tops in his hands, and sprinkled the petals on top on the blanket.

She was beyond words. She just looked at him, her eyes full of love. No one ever went through this much thought and appreciation for her. She was very moved and amazed.

He poured her a glass of wine and himself one. "I think I was supposed to let that breathe longer, but I'm not sure," he said with a sheepish grin.

She laughed and swallowed back a few tears. "I'm sure it's fine."

"To you," he said, holding his glass up. "For being the love of my life, my soul mate, and my best friend. All rolled up in one."

"No," she said, holding her glass up. "To us, for finally getting it right."

He smiled, clinked her glass, and they both took a sip to happiness. A moment later, he put their glasses aside, pulled her into his arms and kissed her, slowly laying her down among the rose petals.


	19. Chapter 19

__

Chapter 19  
_AN: Crediting Lonestar for their song. Thanks for the reviews; they are such a great treat. I gave poor Derek my DH's taste in dancing and music. They think similarly; I thought they both would have the same reaction to the other genre!...._

They returned to the resort when the sun started to go down. Penelope pulled the car around to the valet. She wanted to drive back and was nearly addicted to the power under the hood of the car by the time they arrived. She was convinced the Jag didn't move; it prowled down the road with savage grace.

The valet opened the door for her and she slid out of the low car. Derek was standing there. After the valet drove off, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she was breathless.

She looked questioningly at him. "What was that for?"

"I just know we're not going to be alone anymore, soon," he said wistfully. "I am milking this for all I can."

She smiled and held his hand. They would only make it a few more steps before Derek was pulling her into his arms again for another kiss. They continued like that all the way to the elevator. She was still kissing him when the doors opened and some more curious couples exited.

They walked in and he kissed her against that same handrail he had a few days back. He started kissing her neck, and she let out a throaty chuckle. "You keep this up, and I am going to have an absolute elevator fetish."

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing. To be honest, I really am not too fond of elevators. Did I ever tell you the time I was with Reid and… " He paused for just a moment, then smiled wickedly at her. " Never mind. Anything I do with you here would completely erase that!"

There was more playing, more touching down the hall before they reached the room door. Derek was standing behind Penelope, kissing the side of her neck, while she looked in her purse for the room key. His hands were busy holding her close to him. She unlocked the door and they entered.

A sheet of paper was on the floor. It was an itinerary that was stuck under their door. Penelope picked it up, read it, then giggled. She looked up at him. His baby girl was smiling at him, a very devilish grin gracing her gorgeous face.

"What is on that devious mind of yours?" he said. He had a feeling he was in trouble.

"You pack your chaps?"

He was only confused for a second before it hit him. He reached for her, trying to grab the paper out of her hand. "Let me see that!"

She giggled and scrambled to the other side of the bed. Derek felt fortunate he was fast and had long arms. He tackled her down, then took the sheet neatly from her. He rolled off of her and began to read.

"Aw, hell no!" he said, a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

_Come to the Carson Family Hoe Down! A honky Tonkin', two steppin', party event. Starts at 8 pm in the amphitheater. See you all there!_

He sat up and looked at his still giggling baby girl.

"Sounds right up your alley, Derek," she said, smirking.

There was no doubt about it; Derek was not a country music fan. Every time they were together, he would turn over everything that sounded remotely country. He liked hip-hop, R&B, and good old rock and roll; the only country song he liked was _"Freebird"_ from _Lynyrd Skynyrd_.

"We have to go, don't we?" he said. He knew he was sulking.

"Baby, "she said, kneeling on the bed behind him. She wrapped her arms around him. "You are going to have a blast. Everything you have done here, you have given your all and had fun. This will be no different."

He smiled and turned, pulling her into his lap. "I like that sweet talkin', sugar," he said, with the worst Southern accent she ever heard. But he made up for that atrocity by kissing her until her toes curled. He broke the kiss a long while later. When she opened her eyes to look at him, they were dark, passionate.

"Yee haw," she said, reaching up to kiss him again.

* * *

The music was already going strong by the time Pen and Derek made their way out back. It was very festive; lots of hay bales to sit on, a big bonfire, and a lot of folks had cowboy hats on. Just about every Carson was there. Even Aunt Mary and Uncle Irwin were there, tapping their feet.

Penelope was very surprised when she saw Parker and his wife were sitting by the door. Parker was Penelope's oldest brother. He was fifteen years older than her and they still lived in California , near Modesto . Palmer was sitting next to him, laughing. They turned and grinned at Penelope.

"Hey, there. Want to sit with us?" Sarah said, patting the hay bale near her.

Pen smiled. She sat down and introduced Parker and Sarah to Derek.

"Fiancé?" Parker said, his eyebrows raised. "I always thought you'd be wild and free forever."

"She's still wild and free," Derek said, putting his arm around her. "Being with me doesn't change that."

They had a decent conversation, relaxing together. It was nice being around Parker. She decided that she needed to visit him. He offered for Derek and herself to stay at his home. She agreed to it.

A song with a two-step beat came on. Some thing called _Chattahoochee_ . Cousin Bubba ran over. "Derek! Get your tail up and get on that dance floor."

"We don't two-step," Pen said, saving him.

Bubba scowled at her. "Like hell you don't. You have a lot of Southern ancestors that would roll over in their graves if they heard you say that."

Bubba and Molly lived just outside of Amarillo ; she did have a lot of Southern cousins. There was some thought that Kit Carson, who spent a great deal of his life in Texas , was on their branch of the family tree. It was obviously sacrilege to Bubba for a Carson not to two-step.

"Get up, woman, and drag him out there, too," Molly added, with a twinkle in her eye.

"She doesn't have to drag me," Derek said, standing reluctantly.

He had to admit it; he really loved those two. They were wonderful people who loved Penelope nearly as much as he did.

They made it out on the dance floor. It was dirt, in front of the amphitheater stage. For a moment, Derek watched Bubba's feet. Penelope did the same thing, then smiled up at Derek.

"You got it?" she said hopefully. Lord knew, she didn't!

"Hell, yes," he said, with a grin. "Let's go, Momma."

He picked up on it very quickly. Derek simply liked to dance and he was a great leader. There was nothing he couldn't master quickly. She had to laugh; she was certain he would be able to do a quadrille and the minuet, too.

Bubba was spinning Molly in his arms with just about every turn, getting more and more intricate with their steps. Penelope was certain she didn't want to try that.

"Oh, no you don't," Derek said, looking down at her face. "Don't you chicken out, baby. We're doing this thing, and we're doing it right."

At that point, she was spun around and twirled and two-stepped until she was dizzy and very happy. They were no Bubba and Molly, but they weren't bad. She was rather proud of herself and Derek.

"Slowing things down a bit," the band leader said, before the steel guitars began their song.

Derek was happy. It didn't matter what genre it was, he wouldn't turn down a chance to dance with his baby girl. He opened his arms to her, she pressed herself a little closer. Soon, it felt like it was only the two of them, swaying to the music, exchanging soft kisses. He smiled; no doubt, it was pure, unadulterated magic.

_I don't know how you do what you do. I'm so in love with you; it just keeps getting better. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side,  
forever and ever. Every little thing that you do; baby, I'm amazed by you._

_  
_When the song ended, they stood together. He took a deep breath, but it was no use. He couldn't let her go; it would be too painful to do that right now.

Derek rested his forehead on hers. "What you do to me….I can't explain it; I just want to hold on forever."

"Me, too," she said, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her cheek into his chest.

His arms went around her and held her tight. He kissed the top of her head. He loved her so much now, it was almost overwhelming this need to be near her.

"Cousin Derek, c'mon," Bea said, interrupting them. "It's the _Boot Scootin' Boogie_!" She grabbed his wrist this time, and started to drag him away.

Penelope laughed. Poor Derek, she thought. A good deed never goes unpunished. Oh well, it was the same thing as _The Electric Slide_; he'd be fine. She decided to take that moment to go to the bathroom.

The line dance was done; he escorted Bea off the floor back to where she was sitting with Aunt Mary and Uncle Irwin.

Another slow song came on. "Derek, will you dance with me, please?"

Derek looked at Bridget, who was playing the coquette. He wanted to tell her to go to hell, but he couldn't. She was Aunt Mary's daughter; he had to dance with her. He knew that was the reason she asked him in there in the first place. Mary was even looking at him with a gentle smile.

He plastered a smile on his face. "Of course."

Once they reached the dance floor, she started. "Derek, it feels good to finally get to hold you. Look how good we fit together."

"Bridget, " he said, a low warning tone to his voice.

"We're meant to be. Let her go be with someone lesser; you're meant for perfection," she said haughtily. "I think it's fate, Penelope talking you into coming here."

"I have my perfect mate," he countered quickly. "And she didn't have to talk me into anything."

"I can give you so much pleasure," she said, moving her hands to his ass. "You know you don't belong with her."

"Oh, yes, he does," Penelope spat. She was directly behind Bridget. "If I were you, I'd let me cut in. We do _not_ want to cause a scene."

"Or what?" Bridget said. She did remove her hands; Bridget had some sense of self-preservation.

"Or I will bitch slap you right here on this dance floor," Penelope said, narrowing her eyes at Bridget. "The term has never been so aptly named before."

Bridget stiffened, then stepped away. She smiled a saccharine smile. "All yours, cousin P."

Derek pulled her into his arms and started to sway with her. "My hero."

"Always," she said, with a smile.

The rest of the night was spent doing whisky shots with Bubba, trying to rope a fake cow, and singing loud country songs. The evening ended with _Friends in Low Places_, swaying as a group with arms around each other.

As they wandered back to the room, Derek realized Pen was right. He had a blast. He didn't really doubt it; nothing really changed in six years on that. He was always happiest whenever she was around.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_AN: Sorry about the late entry and not answering reviews right away. Will answer soon. System glitch, I think. Putting this out, and then the big luau climax sometime tomorrow..._

Derek woke, again, to the phone ringing. However, this time, it was his cellular. It was early, damn early. The sun looked to just be coming up over the horizon. Penelope was asleep in her spot on his chest, snoring gently.

He answered the phone, "Morgan."

"Hey, it's Reid," the familiar voice of the young genius said. "I know it's early-"

"Hell, yes, it's early," Derek interrupted, moving his hand up to rub his eyes. "It's three hours earlier over here, my man. What were you thinking?"

"I assure you, I wouldn't be calling this early unless I felt it was important," Reid began seriously.

"You…are…not….supposed to…be," Penelope said, sliding slowly down his body and punctuating each word with a kiss "On…your…cell."

"Oh, God," he said with a shudder as she placed a kiss in a very strategic spot.

"Morgan?" Reid said questioningly. "Are you okay?"

"You made a deal, Morgan," she said, sticking her tongue out and licking that same spot.

"Reid, I'm going to have to call you back," he said quickly, ending the call just after she kissed him more.

* * *

A long while later, he was holding her on his chest again. The sun was finally up. They watched out the balcony doors, seeing the mist rising off the grape fields.

"Our last day here," she said sadly, with a deep sigh. "I don't want it to end."

"Me, neither," he said, kissing the top of her head.

They were quiet for a long time before she finally spoke again. "Derek, what if things are different in Quantico? What if you feel differently about me there?"

"I loved you there, baby; I still love you here. That's not going to change."

"I know. It's just… this place, this magical place. It's so romantic, you know?" She looked up at him, big sad eyes. "Maybe that is affecting-"

"Are you trying to tell me because we are among a bunch of grapes, I suddenly figured out I can't live without you?" He was smirking at her in disbelief.

"Well, you put it that way and it sounds silly," she said, lying back down on his chest.

"It is silly," he said. "Trust me, honey. I have loved you for a long time."

"How long?"

"I was pretty close when I said forever," he said with a grin. "I was waiting for you to dump Lynch and come to your senses.'

She smirked. "Please. Like you didn't have a lot of fun with just about every woman on the planet during my two years with Kevin."

"Hell, yes, I did," he said with a smirk of his own. "I had to stay in practice, you know. I'd be rusty if I didn't."

She looked up at him skeptically. "Are you trying to say none of those other girls meant anything to you?"

"Not a damn thing. I really tried with one, but it didn't work." He kissed her forehead. "She just wasn't you."

"I can't believe it." She shook her head and cocked her head at him. "Seriously?"

"None of them lasted more than a couple months, did they, sweetheart?"

She sat up, and held the sheet to her chest. She looked over at him. "Why, Derek?"

He scooted up and leaned against the headboard. He was confused. "Why do I love you?"

"No," she said. She held his hand. "Why didn't you fight for me, then? Do something to get me."

He sighed. "Baby, I told you I loved you, you were everything to me, my God given solace."

She was watching him carefully. Although he smiled, the sadness in his eyes crushed her heart. It was obvious this was painful for him. She hadn't taken any of that to heart; just something a dear friend would say. Was she that blind to what he really thought all those years? It was plain as day how he felt about her now.

"Anyway," he continued with a shrug. "You seemed so happy. I didn't want to end your happiness for my own means. You chose Lynch, and-"

"Who the hell would chose Kevin over you?" she asked seriously.

She watched him then, saw the light flicker back on in his eyes and the teasing grin come back to life on his face. "Some crazy girl, I guess," he said, as he pulled her into his arms and kissed the living daylights out of her.

* * *

The last day was the only day there was no activities planned during the reunion week. Everyone was supposed to rest for the big luau that was happening in the evening time. The staff at the resort were busy decorating already.

"Come on, let's go sit by the pool," Derek said, holding her hand and leading her onward.

She was glad he didn't look back at her. She was blushing profusely. Actually, come to think of it, there were a lot of places on this resort that would have her blushing profusely.

She sat under the shade of an umbrella while Derek went to get something for them to drink and eat. She noticed her brothers walking into the pool area. She waved over to them.

"Hey, kiddo," Palmer said, pulling up a chair next to her.

Parker helped his wife get seated, then sat down, too. "Hi there, Pen."

They were chatting along, discussing their lives in general when Derek returned. He had a beer, a glass of wine, and a plate of nachos. He put them on the table. "I should've ordered more."

They laughed all laughed. "Nah, we ate earlier," Parker said, but still helped himself to a gooey chip.

"We didn't," Pen said. "I'm starving."

"Yes. I wonder why?" Palmer asked with slightly raised eyebrows. "For some reason, you two miss brunch an awful lot around here."

Penelope nearly choked on the chip she was eating. Her eyes started to water and she took a sip of wine to clear her throat.

Parker burst out laughing, as did Sarah.

To her chagrin, Penelope blushed. She was an adult, she should be blasé about such things. But when it boiled down to it, she was still their baby sister, and she didn't want to discuss her sex life with them!

Derek didn't seem to be having the same problem at all. He just sat next to her, draped an arm around her shoulders, and lowered his sunglasses.

Mercifully, they changed the subject, and it went back to random conversation. She found herself talking a lot more to Palmer and Sarah, while Derek chatted away with Parker like he had a new best friend. They had something big in common. Both men were rollers; they bought houses cheap and fixed them up to sell at a profit. It was something Penelope didn't know.

"I've been rather stagnant lately," Parker said. "Took me seven months to sell the last one I renovated."

"How many do you have going at a time?" Derek asked. "I only have four; never more than that."

Penelope blinked. He had four houses? She'd only been to his house a few times to watch movies. It was a stunning ranch house just outside of the Quantico area. She wondered what the others looked like.

"What did your last one sell for?" Sarah asked, somewhat interested too.

"Just under four," Derek said.

Penelope nearly choked on her wine this time. No wonder he was tipping so well. She glowered a little to herself. He always paid for popcorn at the movies; she would fight him tooth and nail to buy the damn soda. Not anymore!

She giggled. It was kind of irrelevant now.

The time flew by and soon her brothers were off. She was left sitting with Derek in the midday sun. They were both quiet and relaxing. The cabana boy came over and brought two new drinks.

He reached for his wallet to pay, but she stopped him.

"I got it," she said, giving the man the money and a tip.

"Honey, you know I don't mind," he said, doing his usual thing he always did with her about paying.

"I know," she said with innocence. "I don't want you to think I'm marrying you for your money."

He smiled. "That's good to know."

"No," she said, grinning wickedly. "I'm just in it for the sex."

He burst out laughing. "Oh, you are, huh?" He stood and scooped her up into his arms. "Well, I better keep up on that end of the bargain."

**Please see my profile if you want more of this chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

_AN: The final night of the reunion.. and a culmination point. Thank you for the reviews. They make me incredibly happy! Warning: there is some violence in this chapter (No blood or gore, though- just warning if you are sensitive about punches, etc)......._

The night of the luau was spectacular. Everyone was there, every cousin, every aunt and uncle. There were fire dancers, limbo lines, tons of Hawaiian food, hula dancers. Nothing was forgotten. There were also tons of fun and games to be had.

Derek was pulled into a island tug of war contest by cousin Bubba. There was a fake volcano pit in the center with lava spurting out of it. It wasn't dangerous, but the men in the contest were taking it seriously anyway.

There were three men per team. Every man gave their weight, it was evened out per team. Bubba and Jamie were on the same team, along with cousin Dennis, an average built man. Derek, Andrew, and Matt were on a different team.

The first contest was Derek's team versus Brock's team. Derek just wanted to be done with Brock. He considered him a vague threat at this point. He tried to reach Reid for the information all day, but was unable to make contact. He decided not to worry that much about it. He wasn't escalating; he was just annoying as hell.

The "island big kahuna," otherwise known as Uncle Irwin, blew the whistle and the teams started pulling. It wasn't a very hard contest; Derek's team nearly levitated their competition. Of course, Brock scowled at him, but Derek was beyond caring what that fucker thought anymore.

Penelope cheered, and the next group went up. Amazingly, cousin Bubba's team went down next. They all walked away with a laugh, and enjoyed some drinks in hollowed out pineapples.

Derek was sitting on the ground, on the sidelines with Penelope. He was in jean shorts, a t-shirt, and his feet were bare. She was wearing a fake grass skirt, had a flower lei around her neck and a big orchid behind her ear.

"Beautiful," he said, looking over at her. He cupped her cheek in his hand, smiling with twinkling eyes. "The flowers aren't bad, either."

She smiled and gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

His team was called again and he pouted. "Damn. Tugging again." He stood up and held a hand out to her, lifting her to her feet.

"I'm going to go potty then," she said, giving him a quick kiss before he ran up on the stage. She started wandering over to the cleverly disguised port-a-potties; they looked like little grass huts.

The music was loud, people were dancing. A limbo contest was going on with the strains of _Hot, Hot, Hot _playing. There was a beach volleyball game a little farther away. It was all perfect: the weather, the company, the games. All so much fun.

When she exited the bathroom, a hand yanked her hard behind the little grass hut. She stumbled and fell against a hard chest.

"Ah, I said soon, cousin Penelope," Brock sneered, leering down at her. "I didn't realize how soon." His arms clamped around her tightly and squeezed. It was hard to breathe.

He was so strong, it was amazing. Derek made him look so weak; she didn't anticipate Brock being so strong. He easily manhandled her, even fighting with all her might.

"It's no use fighting," he said with a laugh. "You've been asking for this since the first moment I saw you."

She started to scream, but with her lack of breath, the music overpowered her. She tried to kick, but she was barefoot. It was part of the luau theme for everyone to be barefoot. She ended up just hurting her toes.

"I've wanted to show you all week exactly how a real man treats women," he snarled, pulling her even closer to him. "Especially a defiant little bitch like you!"

His mouth came crushing down on hers and she saw black. Not from passion, but from the bruising force and pressure of his lips. One hand came up to her jaw, his fingers squeezing hard to force her mouth open. His tongue shot deep in her mouth, causing her to gag.

Penelope did the only thing she could think of to save herself. She bit down. Hard.

Brock immediately released her, and his hand went to his mouth. "You fucking slut!"

Penelope was shaking. She turned to run, and made it to just in front of the huts, when Brock grabbed her again. She let out a scream to wake the dead. There was no mistaking the deadly rage on his face. He yanked her close again and slapped her, quickly, across the cheek.

"Let her go!" cousin Jamie cried. The young man was standing with his fists balled and a very angry look on his face. He was much smaller than Brock; he would be no contest in a fight.

Brock then noticed there were three cousins standing there. Bea, Jamie, and Alton, three of the young teenage cousins. They were at the nearby limbo and obviously saw what happened. Bea immediately took off to get the nearest adult men to come over.

Soon, there was a small crowd surrounding them, mostly younger people and women. Brock's face went ashen and he reluctantly let go of Penelope.

The first adult male, the first real challenge near, was Bubba. He immediately reached for Penelope, who gratefully went into his arms. "There better be a damn good explanation for this, boy," he said, anger coming off of him in visible waves.

Brock didn't bother saying a word to him. He was smart enough to know whatever he said to Bubba was not going to fly with him.

The next men who arrived were Palmer and Parker. They took one look at their sister, then turned nearly identical narrowed brown eyes at Brock. The brothers stepped closer and flanked Brock.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Irwin were the next to arrive, along with Bridget.

Finally, Brock spoke. "It was her. It was not me. She has been hot for me all along. She was all over me, whenever she wasn't forced to be with that other guy."

He looked around nervously; no one seemed to be buying it, but he kept going. "It was an accident. She tried to kiss me. I turned her down and she went hysterical. I had to slap her-"

"That's a lie, Brock," an unlikely voice said. Bridget moved closer to him. "You have been after Penelope this entire time, trying to get her in your bed." She swallowed nervously. "In the beginning, I helped. I wanted what she had, and was more than willing to exchange you."

"You lying bitch!" Brock seethed.

"No, not anymore," she said, turning from him. "I'm done with you; I have the bruises to prove it."

She walked over to where Penelope was standing, shivering still in Bubba's arms. "I'm so sorry. I saw him take you, and I didn't stop him." Tears filled her eyes. "I haven't been a good cousin to you… until now."

Penelope didn't answer. She continued to stare straight ahead.

At that moment, Derek came running over. "What the hell is going on?" Jamie followed shortly. There was worry and concern in his voice. "Where's Penel…"

His voice trailed off as he took in her face, the still visible red palm print on her cheek, her bruised lips. He walked over to her and gently cupped her face in his hands. "Baby, are you okay?" His voice was soft, his fingertips stroking her gently, like he was touching spun glass.

She nodded and the first big tears spilled over. He held her close and she cried for a moment. He rocked her, tipping her chin so he could kiss her cheeks, her lips.

"Are you okay?" he asked her again, holding her slightly away from him. "Say it, angel. Tell me."

"Yes," she said softly.

"Good," he said with a tender smile just for her. He turned, looking directly at cousin Bubba. "Hold her again for a moment, please?" He guided her over to the giant man. The look on his face changed immediately from sweet, gentle caring to murderous rage in a heartbeat.

"Derek, no," Penelope said, starting to panic. She'd had enough violence for the night. "My brothers have him. You don't have to do this."

"Oh, yes, Baby Girl; I do," he said, taking one step towards Brock.

Being who Brock was, he turned to run. It appeared he only had the courage and strength to pick on women. He only made it a few steps away before Derek caught up. Brock swung out at Derek, but missed. Derek punched back, hitting him in his stomach. Brock had his guard up, trying to protect his handsome face. It took two strong jabs to the gut, a few blocks of Brock's punches, and a strong uppercut to the jaw to knock the man flat on his ass.

Brock made a foolish mistake by rising partially and roaring towards Derek's knees. He stepped aside easily, letting Brock land on his face. With a hand on the back of Brock's neck, Derek hauled him to his feet.

Brock swung one more time and landed that punch near Derek's neck. However, there was so much adrenaline from anger in his system, he didn't even feel it. One last strong solid punch knocked Brock out cold.

Derek stood there for just a moment, willing the man to get back up. He was rather disappointed when he didn't. Suddenly, he heard noise around him. It started with just one person, then more and more joined in. Clapping. Nearly every Carson standing there was clapping and cheering.

He had a lot of well wishes from people, but he didn't care about that. One person wasn't clapping. The only person that mattered. She wasn't even there anymore. Derek took off, looking for his fiancée.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_AN: Thank you so much for the reviews. Sorry I didn't get to post this last night, I do not mean to be remiss. Now we're cooking again....._

Derek was miserable. He couldn't find her anywhere, and his heart was pounding. The woman he loved was assaulted while he was less than three hundred feet away. Worse, it happened with a man that he had suspicions about.

He should've protected her. He promised her after she was shot that no harm would come to her as long as he was around. He loved her then, he loved her even more now, and he let her get hurt. He let her down.

He thought of how it happened, how it felt so surreal. He was having a great time in the tug of war match. He was tugging and trying not to laugh at the serious look on the other team's faces, when he heard someone shouting.

"Derek!"

He glanced over and saw pure panic on Jamie's face. There was no doubt, something was terribly wrong. He let go of the rope and jumped down from the platform.

"What the hell is wrong?" he said, gripping the young man's shoulders.

"It's cousin Pen," he said, his eyes darting over to the bathroom huts.

Derek never felt stark terror before, not until he heard those words. "What-" He started, then took off running like a bat out of hell to the crowd. He shoved his way through, intent on finding his girl. "What the hell is going on? Where's Penel…"

What he saw stopped his heart. He swallowed back pure shock and rage, before coming to his baby. He needed to touch her, to hold her, to be assured she was okay. His chest absolutely ached at how delicate, how broken she looked; trembling and in tears. It seemed inconceivable this was the same woman who was boldly cheering for him at the tug of war earlier.

He knew who did it, knew why he did it, and he wanted him dead. There was no logic anymore in Derek's mind. Brock deserved to hurt a thousand more times than Penelope was hurting, and it still wouldn't have been enough in his mind to rectify what happened.

However, Brock was only half at fault. Derek let his guard down. He bested the man so many times, he didn't consider him much of a threat anymore. He thought Brock was a pompous ass and a damned nuisance. He saw the blind hatred and cold rage Brock had for him and he laughed it off. He never thought he would do something like this.

He felt Penelope was safe among all the family. He thought it was a good place for them to mingle and have fun. He was looking forward to the festivities, and he relaxed. He never should've relaxed. Because he did, the woman he loved was bruised and injured… and no where to be found.

Because he wasn't there to protect her, because he didn't protect her like the precious angel she was, she was hurt. At the moment, he couldn't hate himself more than he already did. She was his to love and cherish, she was his, and he didn't do what he was supposed to do- keep her safe.

She had every right to be angry at him; hell, he was angry at himself. He didn't know what her response would be, he just knew he had to find her.

He started to run through the hallways faster, looking for Penelope. He had to make sure his baby was okay, but he was asking for nothing else. He'd accept his fate… what she decided for him afterward was entirely up to her.

* * *

　  
Penelope sat in Aunt Mary's suite, crying on the older woman's shoulder. She couldn't help it; there was too much everything this evening to take in. She started crying once Derek threw the first punch and didn't stop.

How she ended up in the peaceful quiet of Mary's suite was a miracle. Her Aunt stood near her, watching her cry, trying to soothe her. It wasn't working; she was too emotional.

Aunt Mary had tapped Bubba's shoulder. "Bring her with me," she said, then turned and started walking away.

Bubba picked up the sobbing Penelope and carried her down the hallway, following Mary. He deposited her on the sofa near her aunt and left shortly after.

"Shhhh," Mary said, rocking Penelope. "It's okay, sweetheart. Stop this crying. You've always been stronger than that."

"No," she said, still crying.

"Nonsense. It's one of the many reasons I love you so much. So like your mother," she said with a very soft smile. "You have her same indomitable spirit."

Penelope sniffled. She never knew she was like her mother. "Really?"

"Really," she said. "You'll heal from this, Penelope. No matter what you feel right now, you will. And that young man who loves you so much will help."

Her lip started to quiver again, and her eyes filled with tears. "He didn't listen. I didn't want this. I didn't want him to get hurt. I didn't want-" She couldn't continue.

"Silly girl!" Aunt Mary chuckled. "He is nearly as unconquerable as you! He can obviously handle himself in a fight."

The pride Aunt Mary had in her voice when speaking of Derek made her smile, for just a moment. Her Hot Stuff certainly made an impression on all the Carsons.

Then her sadness came back. "I know. I know he's strong, but I didn't want that. I didn't want any more violence. I see so much violence, and so does he. I didn't want him to go through anymore, experience any more, just because of me."

"Ah," Aunt Mary said, looking at her. "You wanted to protect him, right?"

"Of course," she said, her brow knitting. "He's my world. Brock is vicious, and fights evilly, and-"

"Because you love him, you wanted to protect him, and do what's best for him." Mary smiled and added, "Because he is _yours_, right?"

Penelope nodded.

"Imagine how he felt, seeing you. Actually, there was nothing to imagine," Mary said, looking seriously at her. "I know exactly how he felt. It was written on his face: utter devastation."

"I know-"

"If you saw Derek standing there, looking and feeling like you do now, and the woman who made him feel that way was fifteen feet away," Aunt Mary raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't think your pacifist nature would be so pronounced!"

Penelope thought about the football game, when Brock had his dirty hit on Derek. How she was murderous towards Brock, and Derek had to hold her back. There was no doubt; she would've wanted to do the same.

"There is nothing that man wouldn't do for you, Penelope. The way he talked about you from the first night at dinner." She squeezed Penelope's hand. "He loves you exactly like you do him."

She smiled softly, knowing it was true.

"Take into account, honey, it isn't just revenge. Some men are born honorable. Years ago, knights and ladies fair had something called courtly love," she said, looking over at Penelope with an eager look. Aunt Mary loved to tell a story. "You've heard of that?"

"Yes, I heard," Pen said.

"What that symbolized was great passion, countered by great respect. The knights serve and protect their ladies above all things."

Pen smiled; she'd said it so many times. She whispered gently, "Sir Derek."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Some men still are very much driven by that code of conduct, of chivalry; protection and honor. And in many cases, needing to defend that honor as a part of their being." She smiled at Pen and patted her hand. "Think about that for a second."

She didn't have a moment to think about it. Bubba opened the doorway to the suite and Derek walked in. The moment she saw him, she knew it was true. He was every bit the noir hero she knew him to be, that knight in armor he believed to be tarnished.

He was wrong; it shined with utmost brilliance.

There was worry, concern, and definite love written on his face, plain for anyone to see that bothered to look. He was staring at her; he swallowed nervously.

She didn't wait another second. She stood quickly and ran into his arms, holding him tightly. His arms were wrapped around her. He buried his face in her hair, and he was shaking slightly. For a long moment, they stood there like that. Holding each other, absorbing each other's love and warmth.

His hands came up to gently cup her face and he kissed her softly but passionately. His eyes were misty, but he smiled at her anyway.

She smiled back. "Let's go."

And they went to their room to continue to heal and love.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

_AN: Thank you so much for the reviews; I am humbled and appreciative. Time to leave Napa... Oh, and warning: strong sexual content..._

Not surprisingly, Derek woke to his cell phone ringing again. Penelope was seriously sleeping on his chest this time; she was snoring loudly. Her hand was curled around his neck, and she was pressed very closely. She was holding on tightly, even in her sleep.

When they returned to the room, he undressed her, then drew the whirlpool bath. In the tub he held her without saying a word, giving her gentle kisses and reassuring strokes. He carried her to the bed and made love to her tenderly, softly, until she cried out for more and the passion carried them away.

He woke up a few times in the night, just to watch her sleeping. He couldn't get enough of seeing her lost in peaceful slumber. In the moonlight, he could still see the light bruising by her cheekbone, and his heart would clench. He knew she forgave him, but it would be a much longer time before he forgave himself.

He reached for his phone and said very quietly, "Morgan."

"Morgan! It's Reid. That man you had me research?"

Morgan groaned softly. "Too late, Genius. The authorities hauled his ass to jail yesterday evening."

The police came to the luau, courtesy of a phone call placed by Bridget, to arrest Brock for assault.

"That's very good," Reid said quickly. "The man is a known sex-offender. He is a rapist known for brutal acts. He is rather like Edmund Kemptner, a classic narcissist and sexual sadist who lured his victims with his good looks and charm."

Derek's gut dropped. He was right on, and he ignored it. He swallowed the bile back, and the anger at himself rose once again.

"Thanks," he said flatly.

"Morgan?" Reid said with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine," he said. "See you Monday." He ended the call.

A hand reached up and tossed his phone onto the ground.

"You, my beautiful chocolate God," Pen said, still nuzzled in his chest, "are a fiend addicted to your phone." She raised sleepy eyes to meet his, and concern marred her brow.

She propped herself on her elbow. "Honey, what's wrong?"

He sighed heavily. "I called Reid to do a check on Brock. Something in my gut told me the guy was off."

"I thought he was creepy from minute one," she said, grinning a little at him.

He still didn't smile. "Baby, the man's a serial rapist. I knew his type, I _knew_, and I did nothing."

His frown was pronounced now, his eyes were sad and a muscle was ticking in his jaw. He couldn't hide how he felt; it was too new, too raw for him.

"Derek, you need to stop," she said, smiling down at him.

"I should've-"

"Sweet cheeks, are you supposed to profile every asshole you meet? In the grocery line? At the gas pump? What about Kevin Lynch? He irritated you. Maybe he needed a good profiling." She was looking at him with questioning.

"This guy threatened me," Derek said.

"After losing in sports," she said. "I am sure a lot of men said things to you after you kicked their butt."

He couldn't help but smirk a bit at her. She was right; that did indeed happen.

"He was a bad man. He hit on me and was very persistent, but I didn't see it as anything more than stupid jealousy." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm at fault, too."

"Hell, no," Derek growled. "How were you supposed to know-"

"How are _you_ supposed to know, either?" she interrupted. "Baby, you can't predict the future, and you can't protect me from life. People get hurt, they learn and they grow from it. Even me."

He was quiet for a moment, before she saw it sink in. He smiled at her, and cupped her cheek in his hand. "You are one amazing woman, you know?"

"Of course I know it," she said. "I never cease to amaze myself."

"That still doesn't mean I'm not going to double check a delivery guy that looks at you the wrong way, woman." He winked at her and she giggled.

"I'd expect nothing less," she said, leaning over to kiss him.

* * *

It was nearly time to check out. The bellhop carted their bags down long before; they were lazy, sitting out on the balcony, not wanting to leave the sanctuary of their room.

"It was so beautiful here," Pen said, leaning against Derek's shoulder. "I want to come here again and again."

"We can arrange that, angel," he said, putting his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. He chuckled a little. "We can even invite Bubba and the gang to join us again."

She looked up at him. "Why, Derek! I am amazed. No more alone time?"

He smirked. "We can be here a week, _then_ invite them to join us."

They finally made it down the hall to the elevator. Derek shot her a wicked smirk as they started the decent down and she blushed again. "Stop that. This elevator has seen way too much action as is."

He pushed her against the elevator wall and kissed the hell out of her anyway.

They made their way to the front desk. Aunt Mary and Uncle Irwin were there to wish them well.

Aunt Mary stepped forward and put her hands on Penelope's cheeks. "You look well rested and happy, honey. All's well?" Her concerned expression and warm eyes touched Pen's heart.

"I'm fine, Auntie. Thank you."

"Take care of her, son," Uncle Irwin said, shaking Derek's hand. "The limo is waiting for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey Cuz!" A familiar voice shouted out.

Derek turned to smile at Bubba. "Hey, Bubs." He extended his hand to the big fellow. "It's been real, man."

The big guy ignored his hand and caught Derek in a bear hug.

For some reason, Derek expected nothing less of the man.

Bubba slapped him hard on the back. "Keep in touch. We're family," he said seriously with a nod. "We do that sort of thing."

"Of course."

Bubba turned and picked up Penelope to give her a kiss on the cheek. She giggled, and kissed him back.

Palmer and Parker were there next, along with Sarah. They gave their little sister a hug, then shook Derek's hand.

"Glad to know you, Morgan," Palmer said. "You're a good man."

"Likewise," Derek said with a sincere smile for both brothers.

They entered the limo, and began the drive back to San Fransisco, with fond memories and full hearts.

* * *

A few moments later, the driver knocked, then opened the partition. "Hello, again. Looks like it is going to be a smooth, traffic free drive to San Francisco. We should be arriving in ninety minutes. If you need anything, feel free to press the intercom."

"Thank you," Penelope said, before he rolled up the tinted window.

Derek hit the button to lean the seats back. "Get over here, woman, and get in your spot."

She smiled and snuggled up next to him, very similarly to how she cuddled with him on the way to the resort. "I may crawl all over you again, Hot Stuff."

"I'm counting on it, Baby Girl," he said. She loved when he spoke and she was resting on his chest. There was a low rumble that resonated through his chest, like a big cat purring.

A memory hit and she started to giggle.

"What?"

"I was thinking how mortified I was when I woke up all draped on you," she said, blushing a little. "I thought you'd think I was trying to jump you in my sleep!"

"You were."

"Derek!" she exclaimed and sat up. She looked at his grinning face.

"You were," he reiterated. "You snuggled, your hand was playing with my chest, you let out these cute little moans…"

"I did not!" she said indignantly, then she looked at him with a side glance and a sheepish grin. "Did I?"

His look was dead serious, and very, very hot. "You had me so hard from all that touching, and that sexy leg of yours draped on mine; it took everything in me not to pull you over and show you a _good afternoon _back here."

"Well," she said with a wicked grin. "What's stopping you now?"

He gave her a sexy smirk and leaned closer. "Absolutely nothing."

With that, he reached around her waist and pulled her into his lap. He began little kisses on her neck, up to her ear. His teeth caught her earlobe and tugged a little, then his tongue soothed the spot.

Immediately, tingles of awareness raced down her body, and that pulsing heat began that signaled how much she wanted him. She moaned and leaned her head back, allowing him greater access to the column of her neck.

He was slow, deliberate, dragging his warm mouth slowly down her neck to her collarbone. His tongue traced the little indent, then he moved his lips to the juncture of her shoulder and neck. He rested his mouth there for a moment, then teased with gentle licking, kissing, nibbling.

She was off balance on his lap, resting against his chest and the sure strength of his shoulder. Her hand slid up the muscle of his other arm, to his neck, to rest behind his head. She pressed him closer, aching for more.

She felt him smile against her neck before he moved his mouth to hers again, and began to kiss her in earnest. She moaned; there was nothing in this world as intoxicating as kissing Derek. She felt drugged, boneless, as swirling heat swept over her.

His hand tugged her shirt out of her waistband, then moved under, sliding up along her ribcage. He cupped her breast with his hand, lifting the full weight gently. She shuddered as his thumb teased the tip, before sliding along the edge of her bra.

His mouth was still working its magic on her, his tongue delving and tasting, then retreating, teasing her into wanting more yet again. She was arching on his lap, trying to press herself into the firmness of his body.

Derek was enjoying every moment of his responsive little angel writhing on his lap and he was going to draw this out as long as he could. He knew what he wanted, what he wanted to give to her: total satisfaction. Nothing was going to stop him.

He was interspersing kisses on her lips. He couldn't help it; he was addicted to her flavor. She tasted so sweet, so delicious. He loved to kiss her, feel the answer in her kiss, the need that echoed his own.

Everywhere her body touched his was hot. He stroked down from her breast, over her waist, to rest his hand on her hip. He toyed with her hip, before sliding his hand down her thigh, and up under the edge of her skirt.

He trailed his hand along the expanse of silky outer thigh, before moving to trail up her smooth inner thigh. Instinctively, she opened her legs, in a wordless plea for his touch. He answered that plea with a gentle stroke over her damp panties.

She gasped and arched her hips against the light pressure. She grasped his wrist, pressing his hand closer.

Her eyes were wild and hot, nearly desperate in intensity. He smiled, his resolve nearly melting at her need. He kissed her lips, moving his hand to the band of her panties, and began slowly tugging them off.

He petted her softly, teasing, until she was begging again. "More...please."

"Of course you can have more, sweetheart," he murmured against her lips, just before his fingers entered her.

She came nearly instantaneously, crying out in pleasure, her hips bucking against his hand. She shuddered and spasmed, nearly forgetting to breathe in the process. She slumped against his shoulder again, as his fingers continued to stroke and thrust.

Her eyes fluttered back open again and he removed his fingers. He smiled and held her, happy to have given her pleasure. Although he was very hard, she could feel it under her bottom, it was obvious he was okay with ending it there.

She wasn't.

She kissed him, softly, gently, then slid off his lap, to kneel between his legs on the floor. She reached up for the button on his pants. His eyes darkened again as he looked down at her, put his hand on her cheek, and his smile turned into a grin.

She unzipped his pants and pulled his boxers down over his straining erection. She placed her hand around the shaft, then leaned forward and circled her tongue around the tip.

His hand moved back to her hair and the smile left his face, replaced with pure want and hunger. His nostrils were flared and his jaw was set.

She smiled up at him wickedly before taking him into her mouth. He closed his eyes, held her hair in his fist, and groaned in pleasure as her mouth worked magic. Her lips slid, her tongue caressed; he was near bliss. He opened his eyes to watch and nearly had to close them again, it brought him so near the edge.

He leaned forward and put his hands under her arms, bringing her up to straddle his lap. She reached with her hand, guided him to her entrance, and sank down slowly, inch by inch. They both groaned in pleasure; she rested her forehead on his, and enjoying the feeling of fullness.

Something shifted in them and the need to move became primary. Penelope began to rock her hips, moving up and down, her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes were glazed with passion. She was in control, doing long, slow slides nearly out, then quick, hard returns, sheathing him completely in her.

His hands came up to grip her bottom and assist with the movements, moving her harder, faster, stronger. She held on tighter to his shoulders, digging her fingers in as she came again in voluptuous waves. She cried out, leaning forward in passionate surrender to bliss.

He continued to move her, arching up to meet her downward thrusts, when his release hit. Groaning her name, he felt the rush of heat hit in a long, massive climax. The shudders racked him; he held her tightly to him until he was limp and sated.

They were both breathing heavily, holding each other. Soon, their breathing became even, and they lost themselves to slumber, still wrapped in each other's embrace.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

_AN: Home in Quantico! Thanks for the reviews and for coming along with me on this trip. Sad to see it over, really. Grand Finale Epilogue is next..._

Penelope woke, her head on Derek's shoulder, his warm hands stroking her back. She was still straddling his lap, still intimately joined.

"Sweetness," he murmured low by her ear. "You are ruining me, I swear."

She looked up at him questioningly. "Why?"

"This is the second time it's been so damn good, I passed out." His big trademark grin beamed at her. "It's not kosher for a man to lose control like that."

"Who says that?" She smiled back at him. "Personally, I think it's very cool to lose control… especially when I am the one who makes you lose that control."

His eyes flared hot at her. "Oh, baby, ain't that the truth."

He slid his hands down farther, cupping her bottom and sliding her hips forward in that familiar gentle slide. She could feel him, hard and heavy, inside her again. Her eyes widened at the sensation, then closed with pleasure.

* * *

A short while later, the driver announced over the intercom that they were arriving at the airport. They were both panting, sitting rather limply together.

She swung her leg off of him and immediately pulled the mirror on the back of the seat down. She tried to fix her hair, smooth away her smudged lipstick. She looked quickly over at him. "How do I look?"

"Like you've been well and truly fucked."

She scowled at him. "Don't tease."

He didn't have the heart to tell her he was being completely honest. He was saved from having to answer; she was searching everywhere on the floor for her panties.

It was a lot easier for him. He just adjusted, zipped, ran a hand over his bald head, and was ready to go. He leaned forward and picked up her panties where they were hiding under a mat and handed them to her. "Here, baby."

She slid them on and smiled at him. "I suppose, huh?"

She was so cute. She was an absolute mess, and he loved it. He reached up and fixed her askew glasses, then gave her a kiss. "Let's go home."

* * *

The plane ride back to Quantico seemed to take no time at all. Penelope held Derek's hand the entire time. She was still a little nervous about going home. She didn't doubt her cupcake's love, but she was worried about the everyday stressors that happened with their job.

They retrieved their bags from the claim area and headed through Dulles. Emily was doing them the favor of picking them up. It was dark out already; the time difference was doing a number on her already.

"Hey guys!" Emily said, grinning ear to ear. "How was the trip?"

"It was fantastic," Penelope said, giving Prentiss a big hug. Derek was plopping the bags into the trunk of Emily's sedan. "How's everything at the BAU?"

"Good… not as fun without you two, but we made do." Emily opened the door to the front seat.

Pen glanced at Derek; she wanted to still sit by him, but she couldn't be rude to Emily either. She slid into the front seat and fastened her belt.

Derek gave Emily a big hug too, before climbing into the back seat.

"So," Prentiss began, driving away from the airport. "Drink lots of wine, relax, have a good time with the relatives?"

"Oh, yeah," Derek said from the back seat. "Pen's folks are great people. We had a blast."

Derek began to talk about all the things they saw, the food they ate and drank. Then he asked about work, getting worked up about a case that passed while they were gone.

"Who the hell would get off on fingernail clippings?"

"Apparently this wacko we were chasing," Prentiss said. She snorted a little. "Since you weren't there, Rossi had to tackle him. He really got into it; you should've seen Dave fly!"

Pen was getting more quiet in the front seat by the minute. The more Derek talked, the less she was mentioned. He never once mentioned they were together in all the things he talked about in Napa. As far as Prentiss knew, he was just her travel buddy.

"Whose house am I going to first?" she asked, looking in the rearview at Morgan.

"Mine works," Derek said. He waited a second. "Okay with you, princess?"

"Yeah."

They pulled up to Derek's big house and he hopped out. He went to the trunk, then came to her side of the car. He opened the door.

"Come here," he said.

She undid her seatbelt and stepped out.

One second later, he was holding her, kissing the tar out of her. She stood there, clinging onto his shoulders like he was her lifeline. He was holding her near, his hands caressing her back while he kissed her. He raised his head, breaking the kiss, and smiled at the perplexed look on her face.

He lifted her hand, the one with the glittering diamond ring on it, and kissed it. "Nothing's changed, angel. I don't know what was going through your head up there in that front seat, but it didn't look good."

"I just didn't know what to say."

"What was that all about?" Prentiss said. Her bemused expression was rather comical.

Derek grinned at her. "I was kissing my fiancée goodbye for the evening." He looked down at Penelope. "Unless I can talk her into staying?"

"Well, congratulations," Emily said, beaming at the two of them. "It's about time, if I do say so myself. What kind of ring did he get you?"

Penelope held out her hand, and Emily gave the not-too-shabby look to her, then winked. "I didn't know he had such good taste," Prentiss continued. "In rings or women."

Penelope laughed. "I know. Floored me, too."

"Time for you to go home, Emily," Derek said, ending the teasing and sliding his arm around Penelope's waist. "Thanks for the ride."

Garcia noticed then; her bags were sitting on the driveway. He knew she was staying all along. She smiled to herself; she knew she was going to be staying forever.

"See you both tomorrow," Emily said, then drove away.

They reached for the bags and walked in the house. They plopped the bags by the door, and he grinned at her. "Ready to go to bed?"

"I don't know," she teased. "Maybe you can persuade me."

An eyebrow went up. "Maybe? Woman, I am going to give you all that you can handle; that ought to persuade you."

"Hmm, honeybunch," she said with a seductive smile. "Considering I'm _more_ than you can handle, I feel like I'm being shorted."

He smirked. "Nothing short about me, and you know it."

She winked at him, then turned walking towards his bedroom, dropping her skirt first, then her shirt, item after item, until she was naked. He was following her down the hallway, a slow grin on his face.

She climbed up on his bed and knelt in the middle, sitting back on her heels. He watched her for a minute, all sweet, soft lips, pink and white skin, and tousled blonde curls. His heart pounded; she looked so right, so much like she belonged.

"Welcome home, sweet cheeks," she said, her heart in her eyes.

He removed his clothes and slid in next to her. He pulled her into his arms and just held her. "I love you," he said, his voice husky and soft.

"I love you, too."

"Picked a date yet, angel?" he said, giving her a soft kiss. "I am hoping tomorrow…"

She laughed. "Not quite that quickly. We have a lot of plans to make."

"Please hurry it up," he said, rolling her under him. "I can't wait to make you mine."

She smiled up at him. "Silly boy… I'm already yours."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25- The Epilogue chapter

_AN: Words truly cannot express how much fun your reviews made writing and sharing this story. THANK YOU. I am humbled and grateful. I only hope that I did your expectations justice for the epilogue. Again, my sincere gratitude. With lots of love, Kricket...._

Derek woke up in the big bed of the honeymoon suite they shared a year ago. He glanced at the clock: 8 am. The sun was just over the grape fields in Napa. He was too excited to sleep; today was a big day, they needed to be up early anyway.

"Wake up, sweetheart," he said, giving Penelope a kiss on the top of her head.

"Don't look at me. Quickly rise and walk your cute butt out into the hall, but whatever you do, don't look at me."

"Baby, I don't believe in superstition."

"Are you looking?" she asked, her face in the pillow.

He shook his head. There were certain things he couldn't convince her of, regardless of how many times he tried to logically explain it. "No, I'm not looking."

"Go off to Hotch, please. JJ will be here any moment," she said, her voice still muffled.

"Alright," he said, laughing lightly. "I love you, baby girl."

"I love you, too, handsome," she said. "Now go."

* * *

　  
Hours later, Derek was sitting in his tux, sans his coat and tie, next to Palmer, Parker, Reid, Hotch, and Rossi. Bubba, the last groomsman, was getting drinks for them to have. Derek wasn't nervous, but he was looking forward to all the waiting to be over.

Yesterday was the big rehearsal dinner and a travel day for everyone to meet at the resort. Uncle Irwin forked over the cash to fly out the majority of the guests. A lot of people from the reunion showed, as well as Derek's family, and the BAU team. It was nice to see everyone together.

As he looked over the landscape, the rolling hills and lush green vines, he thought what Penelope said before was right. It was a magical place.

"Hey, cuz," Bubba said, handing him a silver flask with booze in it. Each of the groomsmen had one, it was a gift for being at the wedding. "You nervous? You're kind of quiet."

"Nah," Derek said, smiling. "Actually, I'm eager."

Derek certainly didn't have cold feet. If anything, he had hot feet; he wanted to be married to her a year ago.

"Actually, you would not be out of the norm on that, Morgan," Reid popped in. "Statistically speaking, most grooms are eager to be married. It is a fallacy, a dreaded 'stereotype'-"

"Good God!" Rossi interrupted. "Someone stop him. When he starts doing those _air quotes_, I want to shoot him!"

"Gentlemen," Molly said, coming over to see the group. She was Penelope's attendant. "Just letting you know you have an hour left. Pen's getting pictures done." She stared directly at Derek. "I am supposed to tell you; no looking."

Derek fought rolling his eyes. Were all women superstitious about that? It was ten hours since he last saw his baby girl, and he missed her something fierce. They were together almost all the time, unless he had to be out of town. It seemed very unfair that she was at the same resort, and he couldn't see her.

He wandered over to sit on the balcony overlooking the grape fields. The early afternoon heat had calmed into a delicious warm evening. Perfect night for a wedding. Then again, any night would be perfect for marrying his goddess.

"Morgan," Hotch said, putting his hand on his arm. "It's not long now. Hang in there."  
"I'm not nervous-"

"I know you're not," Hotch said. " You just miss her."

Derek looked at him quizzically. He was the first person who didn't tease about cold feet. "How'd you know?"

Morgan expected him to say something about being a profiler and reading emotion, but he didn't. Instead, he gave a melancholy smile and said, "I've been where you are; I know."

He met Hotch's eyes. Aaron smiled then, a sincere warm smile, and gave his arm a shake.

"You're a lucky man, Derek; cherish this time," he said seriously, then smiled. "It's not everyday a man marries his best friend."

"Damn straight," he said, grinning. They both stood and wandered back to the group.  
　

* * *

Penelope's face was getting sore from smiling. She had to smile so many times for the photographer, it was scary. All of the other girls in their eggplant purple bridesmaid gowns were saying the same thing, however they were only in _half _the pictures that Pen was in.

In a half hour, she was going to be Penelope Morgan. It still seemed like a dream to her. Since the first time he called her "Baby Girl," she had that vision of him being hers. Now, the day was here.

The past year and planning turtled by. She couldn't believe how fast the time was going now. It seemed like she just woke up a minute ago. She was nervous, but she was also excited. She couldn't wait to see Derek; she wondered how busy his day was.

It started with all the women coming into her room, laughing in their pajamas. Bea jumped up on the bed next to Penelope, and the other women sat on the edge. "Excited yet?" Bea asked.

Penelope smiled at her cute little cousin. "Of course, honey."

"Relax, Garcia," Prentiss said. "It's only Morgan."

"I think he's a great catch," Desiree said. "Even if he is my brother."

Penelope smiled. She was able to spend a lot more time with Derek's family this past year. They went to Chicago for vacation and Christmas. It was a blast spending time with his mother. She was as accepted and loved among the Morgans as Derek was with the Carsons.

They all made it down to the spa at the resort, where they had manicures, pedicures, and their hair done. Each woman had an updo. The dresses were strapless; the neat chignons and French twists accentuated their necks and shoulders.

Penelope bought each woman an amethyst heart necklace and matching earrings to go with the dresses. It was a gift given in sincere gratitude, although each woman felt honored to be there with her.

Penelope was putting on her own string of perfect pearls and her earrings. There was something so elegant about it, like Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. Derek knew her thoughts on that; he gave her the set just before they flew to Napa.

She smoothed a hand over her dress, then put a hand up to touch her hair. The curls were all pinned in place still, as far as she could tell. She smiled over at JJ. "Everything look alright?"

"More than alright," JJ said, walking over and putting her hands on Pen's shoulders. "You look exquisite."

"Thank you," she said, her eyes misting. "I am so glad you are here. All of you." She looked over at her beautiful bridesmaids.

Penelope got a warm smile from all the women. There was no lack of love in the room.

"Time to line up, ladies," Molly said, popping her head in the doorway.

Pen smiled at JJ. "Let's do this."

* * *

The vineyard was a spectacular setting for the wedding. The marble columns surrounding the gathering area were decorated festively. There were many flowers, interspersed with grapes and vines, and the string quartet was playing elegant music.

However, the natural splendor of the land far outshone any decoration that could be had. The sun was setting in the distance over the rolling hills of the grape fields, giving the warm, brown earth a gentle glow. It was temperate, beautiful, almost heavenly in appearance.

Derek stood at the end of the gathering rows, waiting for the appearance of his bride. His groomsmen stood nearby in stoic silence. The strains of Pachebel's Cannon in D began, and the entire assembly stood.

Holding Aaron Hotchner's arm was an angel come to earth. She was worth every moment he waited for her. Resplendent in an ivory silk gown with diamante stars at the bodice, she floated down the aisle, every inch the goddess he knew her to be. He swallowed; for the first time that day, he felt nervous. He simply did not feel worthy of her.

Penelope glanced down the aisle at Derek. All the nerves she was feeling that day simply left her. There was no doubt in her mind the man at the end of the aisle loved her. There was such love in his eyes, along with a good amount of wonder. She set out to do what she wanted to do all day. It was a simple task. She didn't want to just look her best for him. That wouldn't be enough. Instead, when he saw her, she wanted him to see her love.

One look at her hot stuff and she knew; she succeeded.

As she reached the end of the aisle, she held his hands and squeezed gently. The love they had for one another spread warmly though her and reverberated back through him. She smiled up at him, he returned his trademark grin, and they turned to face their future together.


End file.
